Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik has resigned following a significant electoral defeat in both the State Assembly and Parliamentary elections. Patnaik’s 24-year tenure came to an end as he submitted his resignation to Odisha Governor Raghubar Das at the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious, breaking the BJD’s 24-year reign. The BJP secured 78 seats in the 147-seat assembly, surpassing the majority mark of 74. The BJD won 51 seats, while the Indian National Congress secured 14 seats.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP performed impressively, winning 20 out of the 21 parliamentary seats in the state. The remaining seat was won by Congress.
Naveen Patnaik’s unexpected entry into state politics began with the formation of the BJD, a party named after his father, former Odisha CM Biju Patnaik. His political journey started with a victory in the 1998 Lok Sabha bypoll, representing his father’s constituency of Aska. Following the BJD’s success in the 2000 Assembly elections, where it formed a coalition with the BJP, Patnaik resigned from his position in the Union Cabinet to assume the role of Chief Minister. Since then, he has been the second longest-serving Chief Minister in India, after Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling.
The counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was held on Tuesday. According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats, significantly lower than its 2019 tally of 303. The Congress, on the other hand, registered strong growth, winning 99 seats. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition and defying all predictions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has secured a third term, but the BJP will need to rely on the support of other parties in its coalition, including JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu. The BJP fell 32 seats short of the 272 majority mark, marking the first time since 2014 that the party did not secure a majority on its own.
