Naveen Patnaik elected leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly

The BJD legislature party, which met at the party’s state headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, unanimously elected Naveen Patnaik as the leader

Published on: Jun 19, 2024, 20:28:02 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Former Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik was elected as the head of the 51-member BJD Legislature Party and leader of Opposition in the state Assembly heralding a new chapter in his two-and-a-half-decade-long political career.

The BJD legislature party, which met at the party’s state headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, unanimously elected the 77-year-old Patnaik as the leader while Rairakhol MLA Prasanna Acharya was elected as the deputy leader of Opposition in the state Assembly.

Naveen Patnaik’s father Biju Patnaik, too, was elected leader of Opposition in 1995 after the Janata Dal lost in 1995 Assembly election to Congress led by JB Patnaik. Biju Patnaik remained leader of Opposition for a year till 1996 when he was elected to Lok Sabha from Aska seat. He died in April 1997.

Senior MLA and former Speaker Pramila Mallick would be Opposition chief whip while former minister Pratap Keshari Deb was named as the deputy chief whip in the Assembly.

After being in power for 24 years on a trot, the Naveen Patnaik government bit dust in the just-concluded assembly polls losing to BJP that won 78 seats. BJD managed to win 51 seats. Patnaik served as the chief minister of Odisha for five consecutive terms from 2000 to June 2024.

Political analysts said despite his advancing age, there was no option left before BJD to make anyone else leader of the legislature party as only he would be able to keep the flock of MLAs intact and prevent possible BJP attempts to poach and weaken the regional party.

“Despite the loss, Naveen Patnaik remains hugely popular, and the former chief minister could use it to keep his flock together. But the party’s future depends on his health. BJD would not be able to exploit any weakness of the Mohan Majhi government for at least a year as the political momentum lies with BJP,” said political analyst Rabi Das.

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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