BHUBANESWAR: Naveen Patnaik will turn 76 on Sunday, also marking an unprecedented 25 years of success in politics, 22 years of which have been as the Chief Minister of Odisha. He has only grown stronger with each passing year, creating an aura of invincibility around him. It has also created a scenario where there is no alternative to him in State politics.
Naveen, in his political career, has seen six Governors, three Prime Ministers and numerous other players in the grand theatre of Indian politics. He has found allies, encountered adversity and coursed through challenging times only to emerge as the man of all seasons, whose immaculate sense of political inventiveness combined with awareness of the electorate has become stuff of the legend. To top it all, the 76-year-old’s brand of political civility has only made him darling of the classes as well as the masses.
Naveen entered politics in 1997 by winning from Aska Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll after the death of his father Biju Patnaik, then a Janata Dal leader. In 1997, the Janata Dal split and he founded the Biju Janata Dal which in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance performed well. He served as the Union Minister for Mines in the AB Vajpayee government.
The BJD-BJP alliance swept to power in 2000 with him as the Chief Minister. But in 2009, he broke the alliance with BJP and the BJD has gone solo since then. And the regional party has only grown bigger in its political footprint ever since.
During the period, when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power at the Centre, Naveen coined the theory of equidistance between BJP and Congress which remains the ideological core of the BJD till now. It is Naveen’s steadfastness on strong regional politics which many other leaders are now taking a cue from. Such is his deep understanding of the people’s pulse that young Chief Ministers and national leaders look up to him.
It is his uncanny ability to strike a perfect balance between good governance and smart politics which the Opposition has found hard to decode. That he has stood victorious against the Modi wave – twice over – tells it all. Despite his growing popularity and BJD’s increasing numbers, Naveen has sided with NDA on matters of national interest such as Article 370, CAA displaying a rare sense of political wisdom in the current times.
All this while, Naveen has remained deeply committed to development of the State by reaching out to the last mile through a bouquet of welfare programmes in agriculture, education and health. At the same time, with carefully-designed schemes like KALIA, Mission Shakti and temple development, he has remained miles ahead of the Opposition.
After pulling the State out of the morasses which the post 1999 Super Cyclone had created, Naveen has turned to the new generation which is young and aspirational. His politics too has undergone a change – a conscious shift to sports development which has made him a role model in the country as his promotion of hockey has brought international success for India. Focus on technology-driven governance, skill development and IT and ITES are other examples how he is continuously ahead of the curve.
He too faces challenges ahead. The immediate concern is the BJP’s growth. But knowing Naveen, he will counter BJP’s growth as well as maintain the balance which he has done so spectacularly well so far.