Naveen Patnaik

Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is 14th and current Chief Minister of Odisha. The supremo of the Biju Janata Dal, is also a writer and has published four books.

Biography

Patnaik was born on 16 October 1946 in Cuttack in a Karan family from Biju Patnaik, former Chief Minister of Odisha, and his brother Himanshu Patnaik. Patnaik was educated at the prestigious Doon School in Dehradun. After that he attended Kirori Mal College,Delhi University, and he qualified for Bachelor of Arts degree. Naveen Patnaik is a writer and had for most part of his youth been away from both politics and Odisha, but after his father Biju Patnaik's demise, he entered politics in 1997 and a year later founded the Biju Janata Dal, named after Biju Patnaik, which won the state election with the BJP as its alliance and formed the government in which Patnaik became Chief Minister. His mild mannerism, "stand against corruption" and "pro-poor policies" have resulted in the development of a huge support base in Odisha, which has voted him to power in the last four consecutive terms. Like his father, he has managed to control the bureaucracy and transformed it into a machine for the development of the state. He is a devotee of Lord Jagannath, Puri and Maa Tara Tarini of Ganjam in Odisha.