Naveen Patnaik: A reluctant politician steps out after two decades in gen shift
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik submitted his resignation to Governor Raghubar Das on Wednesday, it marked the end of the tenure of a regional satrap who ruled the state for the longest time. Patnaik was the second longest-serving chief minister after Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim.
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In March 2000, when Naveen Patnaik took oath as the 14th CM, the state was struggling to revive after the deadly 1999 cyclone. It was difficult for any leader to think beyond relief and rehabilitation at that time. Odisha was then a poor starving state lagging on many national social parameters. After two and a half decades of Patnaik's leadership, the state now presents a picture of aspiration, grit and determination.
Unlike other politicians, Patnaik set his focus on the state rather than nurturing national ambitions and that gave him flexibility in dealing with several governments at the Centre while pushing for the state's interest.
A reluctant dynast with interest in art and literature, politics was never on his thoughts till the death of his father and two-term CM Biju Patnaik in 1997. When it became imminent, Naveen didn't shy away from taking the plunge. He broke away from the Janata Dal and launched his own Biju Janata Dal in the same year. He was part of the NDA, serving as a minister in the Vajpayee
