Naveen Patnaik comes face to face with man who defeated him in assembly polls

Forty-eight-year-old Laxman Bag defeated five-term chief minister Naveen Patnaik by over 16,000 votes from Kantabanji seat in Odisha

Published on: Jun 18, 2024, 21:08:19 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik came face to face with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Laxman Bag, who defeated him in the recently concluded assembly elections from Kantabanji seat, on Tuesday, amid the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected MLAs in the State Assembly.

Naveen Patnaik takes oath as member of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. (PTI)

Forty-eight-year-old Bag defeated five-term chief minister Patnaik by over 16,000 votes. Patnaik, however managed to win in Hinjili assembly seat by a little over 4,600 votes.

As Patnaik entered the Assembly for taking oath, Bag stood up and introduced himself. “Oh You defeated me,” Patnaik remarked while extending his wishes. Patnaik is likely to be elected as the chief of the 51-member Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Legislature Party in its meeting on Wednesday. He will be playing the role of opposition leader for the first time in his political career.

Bag, who worked as a daily wage labourer and even assisted a truck driver for livelihood, pooled all his resources and made labour migration, the major issue in Kantabanji, to target the BJD government.

Pro-tem Speaker Ranendra Pratap Swain first administered the oath to chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi and other members including Patnaik. Two deputy CMs -- K.V. Singh Deo and Pravati Parida -- also took oath.

All the 147 newly elected MLAs are scheduled to take oath by June 19 while the election for the new Speaker will be held on June 20. Senior BJP leader and former minister Surama Padhi is likely to be fielded by the party as its candidate for the Speaker’s post. The BJP won 78 of total 147 seats in the recently concluded Assembly polls.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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