Biju Patnaik Death Anniversary: All you need to know about the former Odisha CM

Bijoyananda (Biju) Patnaik was born in Cuttack, Odisha, on March 5, 1916 to Laxminarayan Patnaik and Ashalata Devi. Laxminarayan was a great nationalist and a prominent leader of the Oriya Movement.

He was closely associated with two architects of modern Odisha-Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das and Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das.

He was fearless and patriotic, two qualities he inherited from his parents.

Discontinued studies for a B.Sc. degree to undergo training as a pilot

Biju discontinued studies for a B.Sc. degree to undergo training as a pilot at the Aeronautic Training Institute of India and Delhi Flying Club.

Fascinated by aeroplanes

As a child, Biju was fascinated by aeroplanes. When the Second World War broke out Biju joined the Royal Indian Air Force along with his British friends. When Japan entered the war in 1941, Biju Patnaik evacuated British families from the advancing invaders.

British Government valued his efforts

The British Government particularly valued his efforts to evacuate British families from Rangoon ( Yangon) when the Japanese invaded Myanmar during World War II.

Patnaik was elected unopposed from the North Cuttack constituency to the Odisha Legislative Assembly in 1946.

He defeated Jagannathprasad and Surada in the years 1952 and 1957, respectively. He was elected to lead the state Congress in 1960.

Patnaik elected CM

On 23 June 1961, Patnaik (representing the Chowdwar constituency) was elected chief minister of Odisha under his leadership.

He held the position until 2 October 1963, when he resigned from it in accordance with the Kamaraj Plan to revive the Congress party.

The Janata Dal won a resounding majority (two-thirds of the assembly seats) in the state assembly elections of 1990, which resulted in Biju Patnaik serving as chief minister of Odisha for the second time from 1990 to 1995.

As a Janata Dal candidate, Patnaik won re-election to the Lok Sabha in 1996 from the Cuttack and Aska constituencies. He kept the latter till his cardio-respiratory failure caused his death on April 17, 1997.

Published on: Sunday, April 16, 2023, 03:34 PM IST