Naveen Patnaik becomes second-longest-serving chief minister in India

Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik on Saturday achieved a remarkable milestone as he become the second longest-serving chief minister of a state in India with a tenure of 23 years and 139 days. He has replaced West Bengal’s Jyoti Basu. Former Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling still holds the record of being the longest-serving CM in the country. He was the CM of the Himalayan state for more than 24 years from December 12, 1994, till May 27, 2019.

Patnaik, the five-time Chief Minister of Odisha, took charge on March 5, 2000, and has been holding the post for the last 23 years and 139 days. While Jyoti Basu held office for 23 years 137 days. He was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from June 21, 1977, to November 5, 2000.

Patnaik is also the third leader after Chamling and Basu to become the chief minister of a state for five consecutive times. If the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) returns to power in the 2024 assembly elections, Patnaik will become the longest-serving chief minister in the country.

BJD vice president Prasanna Acharya said, “We are happy that our chief minister has crossed the record of West Bengal’s former CM Jyoti Basu. I am sure that Patnaik will break all the records of the past, and will emerge as the longest-serving CM.”

Congress leader SS Saluja said, “We congratulate Naveen Patnaik for becoming the second-longest-serving CM, but we are pained that Patnaik is not doing anything during his term.” Senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari said history will not remember how long one serves as the chief minister, but how one creates history within a short span of time.

Naveen Patnaik started his political journey in 1997 after the demise of his father Biju Patnaik. He was first elected as a member to the 11th Lok Sabha in the by-election from Aska Parliamentary Constituency in Odisha.

He formed a new party on 26 December 1997 in the name of his father as a breakaway faction from Janta Dal. In 1998, he was inducted as the Steel and Mines Minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. However, he returned to the state to contest the Assembly elections in 2000. Patnaik successfully led a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2000. He was sworn in as the 14th CM of Odisha on March 5, 2000.

The National Democratic Alliance, of which the BJD was a member, took power in 2004. Even though the NDA suffered setbacks in the 2004 general elections, Patnaik’s political prospects were unaffected in Odisha.