Naveen Patnaik
23rd leaders of the opposition, Odisha Vidhan Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 June 2024[1]
Governor	Raghubar Das Kambhampati Hari Babu
Chief Minister	Mohan Charan Majhi
Preceded by	Jayanarayan Mishra
14thChief Minister of Odisha
In office 5 March 2000 – 11 June 2024
Preceded by	Hemananda Biswal (INC)
Succeeded by	Mohan Charan Majhi (BJP)
Member ofOdisha Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 March 2000
Preceded by	Udayanath Nayak
Constituency	Hinjili
Union Minister of Mines and Minerals
In office 13 October 1999 – 4 March 2000
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Union Minister of Steel and Mines
In office 19 March 1998 – 13 October 1999
Prime Minister	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by	Birendra Prasad Baishya
Succeeded by	Dilip Ray
Chairperson ofBiju Janata Dal
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 December 1997
Preceded by	position established
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 12 April 1997 – 4 March 2000
Preceded by	Biju Patnaik
Succeeded by	Kumudini Patnaik
Constituency	Aska
Personal details
Born	(1946-10-16)16 October 1946 (age 79) Cuttack,Odisha,India(thenOrissa Province,British India)
Party	Biju Janata Dal (since 1997)
Other political affiliations	Janata Dal (until 1997)
Parents	Biju Patnaik (father) Gyan Patnaik (mother)
Relatives	Prem Patnaik (brother) Gita Mehta (sister) Sonny Mehta (brother-in-law)
Residence(s)	Naveen Nivas, Aerodrome Road,Bhubaneswar,Odisha, India
Alma mater	The Lawrence School, Sanawar The Doon School, Dehradun Kirori Mal College, Delhi (BA)
Profession	Politician writer
Website	naveenpatnaik.in
Source:[1]

Naveen Patnaik (Odia:[n̪ɔbin̪pɔʈn̪ajk]; born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician and writer, who is currently leader of opposition in Odisha Legislative Assembly. He served as the 14thChief Minister of Odisha from 5 March 2000 to 12 June 2024.

He is the founding chairperson of theBiju Janata Dal, serving since 1997, and has represented theHinjili Assembly constituency since 2000.^[2] He also served as the Union Minister of Steel and Mines from 1998 to 2000 and as a member of theLok Sabha fromAska from 1997 to 2000.

Patnaik was born on 16 October 1946 in an aristocraticKaran family toBiju Patnaik, formerChief Minister of Odisha, and his wife, Gyan Devi.^[3][4][5]

He was educated at theWelham Boys' School inDehradun,The Lawrence School, Sanawar and laterThe Doon School.^[6] At Doon, he was a classmate ofSanjay Gandhi and three years junior toRajiv Gandhi, who later became prime minister of India.^[7]

After school, he went to theKirori Mal College^[8] ofDelhi University, and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree.^[9]

After the death of his fatherBiju Patnaik, leader of theJanata Dal,^[9] he was elected as a member to the 11thLok Sabha in the by-election fromAska Parliamentary Constituency inOdisha, India.^[9] He was a member of the Consultative Committee of Ministry of Steel & Mines, Member of Standing Committee on Commerce, and Member Library Committee of Parliament.

In December 1997, Naveen split from theJanata Dal and founded theBiju Janata Dal, named afterBiju Patnaik.^[10] The new party went into alliance with theBJP-ledNational Democratic Alliance for1998 election. The alliance performed well winning 16 out of 21 seats and Naveen Patnaik was selected as theUnion Minister for Mines in the cabinet ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee.

In the2000 Assembly election,BJD won the majority of seats in alliance with theBJP in the Odisha Assembly elections, Patnaik resigned from the Union cabinet and was sworn in as the Chief Minister ofOdisha. He took office on the 84th birth anniversary of his father.

BJP led NDA lost the general elections in 2004, however, the coalition led by Naveen Patnaik emerged victorious in the state legislative elections and he continued as the Chief Minister. During this tenure, the friction between the ruling partners was getting more and more apparent, especially after the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati^[11] in theKandhamal district ofOdisha in 2007–2008 and also the active participation of Bajrang Dal in the riots that hitKandhamal region.

In the run-up to the polls for theLok Sabha andLegislative Assembly of Odisha elections in 2009,BJD walked out of theNDA after severing ties with theBJP and joined the nascent Third Front constituted mainly by theLeft Front and few regional parties.^[12] He did it after severely criticizing BJP's involvement inKandhamal anti-Christian riots during 2008. TheBJD won a resounding victory in both theVidhan Sabha (State Assembly) as well as theLok Sabha elections in 2009, winning 14 out of 21Lok Sabha seats and 103 of the 147 assembly seats and was sworn in as the Chief Minister ofOdisha on 21 May 2009 for the third consecutive term.^[13]

Patnaik won a huge victory in both the2014 Indian general elections and theLegislative Assembly of Odisha elections in 2014. Patnaik'sBiju Janata Dal secured 20 out of the 21Lok Sabha seats ofOdisha and 117 of the 147Odisha Vidhan Sabha seats.^[14]

In spite of a strongBJP wave across the country, the Biju Janata Dal, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik won as many as 112 seats out of 146 (polls for 1 was deferred) in theLegislative Assembly of Odisha and 12 out of 21Lok Sabha seats in2019 Indian general elections.

His 24-year tenure is thesecond longest for a chief minister of any Indian state, afterPawan Kumar Chamling ofSikkim.

The Biju Janata Dal was voted out of power in the2024 Odisha Legislative Assembly election as the party managed to win 51 seats inLegislative Assembly of Odisha, thus ending Patnaik's 24-year rule in Odisha. Patnaik was himself defeated inKantabanji constituency by 16,344 votes, marking his first electoral defeat. However, he did win theHinjili seat with a reduced margin compared to previous elections. InLok Sabha elections, the BJD, for the first time, failed to win any of the seats it contested.^[15][16]

Patnaik spent most of his early days away fromOdisha, so he had problems with writing and speaking fluently in theOdia language.^[17] He was the onlychief minister ofIndia who did not speak fluently theregional language of his state, and because of this, he faced severe criticism from his opponents. During his tenure, Patnaik had an adequate working knowledge ofOdia, and he possessed great mastery overHindi,French,Punjabi, andEnglish. At rallies, he deliveredOdia speeches written in theRoman alphabet.^[18]

Patnaik is a writer and had spent most of his youth away from bothpolitics and Odisha. However, after his fatherBiju Patnaik’s demise, he entered politics in 1997 and founded theBiju Janata Dal, named after hisfather. His mild manner and policies made his party hugely popular in thestate.^[19][20] He is also one of the founding members of theIndian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.^[21] His elder sister was the writerGita Mehta, who died in 2023..^[22]

Award	Year	Conferrer	Event/Location
Lifetime Achievement Award	2022	N. V. Ramana	Capital Foundation National Awards
Hero to Animals Award	2020	PETA	Odisha,India
CSI E-Ratna Award	2020	Computer Society of India	53rd CSI Annual Convention
FIH President's Award	2018	International Hockey Federation	46th FIH Congress
Ideal Chief Minister	2018	Pratibha Patil	8th Indian Students' Parliament
Best Administrator in India	2017	Pranab Mukherjee	Outlook India Speak Out Awards 2017
United Nations Award	2013	United Nations	Odisha State Secretariat

• In 2013, theUnited Nations felicitated Naveen by presenting a citation for his government’s handling ofCyclone Phailin, which hit Odisha in October 2013. The body also announced that the state’s efforts would be highlighted as a model fordisaster management programs globally. Naveen was also invited by the international body to attend the Third UNWorld Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in 2015, which was held inSendai, Japan, from 14 to 18 March 2015.^[23]
• In 2019, theUnited Nations complimented Naveen for his government’s proposal to reserve 33% of seats for women in theNational Parliament as well as in thestate’s Legislative Assembly.^[24]

• A Second Paradise: Indian Courtly Life, 1590-1947 – Published inIndia, England and US^[25]
• A Desert Kingdom: The People of Bikaner – Published inIndia, England and US^[26]
• The Garden of Life: An Introduction to the Healing Plants of India – Published inIndia, England and US^[27]

• List of chief ministers of Odisha
• List of longest-serving Indian chief ministers
• List of prime ministers of India
• List of presidents of India

Wikimedia Commons has media related toNaveen Patnaik.

• Official website
• Notable personalities of Odisha, including Naveen Patnaik, in Orissadiary website
• Notable personalities of Odisha as per the Govt. of Odisha official web site
• Odisha's accidental politician, BBC
• Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website

• 1946 births
• Living people
• Chief ministers of Odisha
• People from Cuttack
• Janata Dal politicians
• Indian political party founders
• Biju Janata Dal politicians
• The Doon School alumni
• St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni
• India MPs 1996–1997
• India MPs 1998–1999
• India MPs 1999–2004
• Lok Sabha members from Odisha
• Indian Hindus
• Orissa MLAs 2000–2004
• Orissa MLAs 2004–2009
• Odisha MLAs 2009–2014
• Odisha MLAs 2014–2019
• Odisha MLAs 2019–2024
• Odisha MLAs 2024–2029

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