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Biju Patnaik’s love for Naveen Patnaik had always remained unspoken yet the nameplate in front of Biju babu’s private residence in Bhubaneswar was like writing on the wall. And that was very personal a matter to merit description here.
By D.N.Singh
Born to a family in Ganjam district of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik was the youngest child of late Biju Patnaik, the legendary political leader well known for his daredevilry feats as a pilot and subsequently a politician whose contribution to the politics had over-shot many empirically assessments. Fondly referred to as Biju babu, the latter had never allowed any of his family members to come closer to politics. A man who had always pleaded in favour of loose federalism in India was also a known advocate against family politics.
Biju babu had not in wildest of his imaginations thought that his younger son, Naveen Patnaik, to emerge as a repeat victor to lead Odisha to this date, uninterrupted for the fifth time and make a sort of new history in Odisha politics.
Biju Patnaik’s love for Naveen Patnaik had always remained unspoken yet the nameplate in front of Biju babu’s private residence in Bhubaneswar was like writing on the wall. And that was very personal a matter to merit description here.
As a complete novice in politics, Naveen Patnaik, in 1997, virtually tip-toed into politics after the death of Biju Patnaik.
It is still fresh in memory when, in a hot afternoon, Patnaik himself made several phone calls to many journalists, including this author, to join him for a mission. Which was regarding water scarcity that used to trouble people in many parts of the state.
He was straight in his purpose and made no pretensions of politics during the entire tour to several areas and went threadbare to find the solutions to mitigate the problems that, perhaps, still haunts many areas.
Attitude rocks and from that time he showed signs of a longing to get closer to people at the grassroots, far from the claustrophobic clutches of an elite Delhi. Suddenly politics became his priority.
After that, he was cajoled into politics and he too took it seriously to walk down the lanes. In 1997 he was advised to fight the parliamentary seat of Aska in Ganjam district that fell vacant after Biju babu’s death, which he won. Since then Patnaik never looked back and rest is history.
It all happened in the midst of a motley group of political leaders who, in essence, constituted the club of Biju loyalists. Which later dithered under the weight of fossils of ambition but Naveen Patnaik stood apart and weathered the odds to carry on the legacy like a milestone.
‘ What’s in a name ‘ and this had come from the mouth of his father but, for Naveen Patnaik, Biju babu’s name remained the main life-buoy that helped him sail through all the elections without many hurdles.
It was an interesting phase for him when he lost some friends and made a few new ones. His enemies took shelter in a sanctuary whose king is Naveen’s friend, the prime minister Narendra Modi.
He enjoys a stand-apart image by weathering the Modi blitzkrieg of 2014 and 2019 and denied any saffron surge and now is on a path of history by becoming the chief minister for the 5th time.
It is a resounding victory but, it also should be taken as a warning from the people of Odisha, not to undertake the beaten track which always leads to complacency and then pitfalls.
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