Biju’s Dynasty

Perhaps no other leader has occupied the memories of people of Orissa like Biju Patnaik. Right from the beginning of his political career as a member of Orissa Assembly in 1946 from North Cuttack Constituency or at middle, as Minister of Steel and Mines in the Morarji Desai government in 1977 till the last, as Chief Minister in 1990, Biju strode Orissa's political arena for more than four decades, like a colossus. Whether in power or in the opposition, he was one of the most influential politicians of the country. He functioned in an arbitrary and autocratic manner and often used to say, "I am the party and I am the government". But unlike other politicians Biju’s children were not interested in politics and in some circles it was also discussed that Biju babu had no interest to choose any of his children as his successor. So, till his last breath on April 17, 1997 Biju Pattnayak was a one-man army having no political dynasty.

After Biju’s demise his youngest son Naveen, who had never lived in Orissa, even who did not speak Oriya, joined politics. Shortly after entering to parliament, Naveen splited the Janata Dal and formed his own party in Orissa namely Biju Janata Dal (BJD). In the next election BJD under his leadership swept the Lok Sabha polls in Orissa and joined the NDA. Later he became a member of the Union Cabinet. Then his party wrested power from the Congress in the state and Naveen went back to Orissa as Chief Minister in 2000, then got a successful second term in 2004 and continues till today. He can afford to be ruthless with the lazy, the corrupt and the simply disobedient because perhaps he knows, he has the people of Orissa on his side. Much of this is due to his family background. His poorer constituents appreciate the fact that he is Biju Patnaik’s heir, respect his family and recognize that he is not in this to make money — unlike many, if not most, of Orissa’s other politicians. Columnist Vir Singhvi writes, “Naveen Patanik: jet set ambassador and ruthless hatchet-man of state politics! Who would have thought it? It is always difficult to generalize from individual examples but Naveen’s reverse metamorphosis — the social butterfly became the political caterpillar — set me thinking about the role of dynasty and bloodlines in Indian politics.”

-Dhrutikam Mohanty.