BHUBANESWAR: As Naveen Patnaik completes 20 years in office as Chief Minister of Odisha today, the inevitable question comes to the fore again – What makes him click as a leader, who has never tasted defeat ever since his entry into politics?

An outsider with no connection with politics whatsoever, other than being the son of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, Naveen was pushed to the arena by the force of circumstances.

Anointed the heir to the legendary Biju Babu following his death in 1997, Naveen has defied all naysayers to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of the State.

In these 20 years, the reluctant politician has not only evolved as a leader adored by the masses and beyond the reach of any political challenger but also crafted a new brand of politics with State’s development and people’s welfare and clean governance at its core.

His numerous programmes and initiatives over the last two decades have had a transformative impact on every section of the people and touching lives of those in the farthest mile.

Combining effective governance with the rare quality of decency in politics, Naveen has come to exemplify “good politics” – a model that is being followed by more and more political leaders in the country.

Naveen’s brand of politics has become so successful that it was reflected even in Aam Admi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal’s campaign for Delhi Assembly elections during which he made a conscious shift to present himself as the good boy of Indian politics.

Kejriwal shed the confrontational approach, and much like Naveen, focused on positive campaigning that dwelt on people’s issues, what he did and would further do to improve their lives.

The result, like the ‘burnt transformer’ comment against Naveen by the then BJP president Amit Shah in the 2019 polls, the aggressive attack on Kejriwal failed abysmally.

In fact, the 2019 Odisha Assembly election was a watershed in many ways. For the first time, the rest of the country witnessed such a success that could be achieved against Narendra Modi and Amit Shah without ceding much ground.

Even Shah had to revise his opinion and acknowledge Naveen’s leadership and political conduct during the electioneering itself. 

Not only Shah, but all BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have praised Naveen Patnaik for his political conduct and efficient administration. The popularity of Naveen is evident election after election.

Anti-incumbency as a deciding factor has fallen flat before him as BJD’s vote share has been constantly on the rise in contrast to conventional political calculations. The BJD won 113 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly with a vote share of 44.7 per cent in 2019 as compared to 117 seats in 2014 with a vote share of 43.7 per cent.

Political observers, though, maintain the gradual weakening of Congress helped Naveen to a great extent in consolidating his position in the State. One of the bitter critics of Naveen, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Narasingh Mishra said his uninterrupted run is because of a weak Opposition and sentimentalism of Odia people who continue to overlook his false promises and failures.

“Over the years he has turned into an expert in election management,” he said. Naveen’s tenure in Odisha can be divided into two parts. In the first, Naveen was in power in alliance with BJP for nine years till 2009 when he decided to go alone after falling out with the latter over Kandhamal riots. during this phase of his political career, he invented the ‘equidistant from BJP and Congress’ theory.

Apart from his welfarism and development pitch, Central apathy and the demand for special category state for Odisha were the other two pillars of his political stance till 2014.

However, with Modi coming to power at the Centre, the equi-distance plank of BJD no longer held good with Naveen siding with the Modi Government on almost all issues of National importance – be it election of President, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson, support for demonetisation, GST, Triple Talaq, Balakot or the most recent abrogation of Article 370 and CAA.

For someone who was parachuted into politics when he had crossed 50, Naveen has continued to baffle everyone by his sheer political acumen.

He has been a keen reader of political game and has constantly improvised to suit himself and his political goals, term after term. He has managed to exploit the sense of disappointment of Odia people with available politicians across party lines and be at the helm uninterruptedly.

He has consciously crafted the image of being an aloof politician, whose only mission is to do good for the people, a Gandhian line which he frequently toes now.

However, like most other regional party chiefs, Naveen has been authoritarian. but what sets him apart is he has been conspicuously innocuous and less controversial.

He has systematically weeded out potential adversaries from his party for one reason or the other to survive.

He has sacked 44 ministers during his earlier terms so that dirt from scams and other corruption charges against the government do not stick to him.

People have just ignored the failures of his administration on many fronts. Such is their faith on Naveen that his every exhortation of “Apana Mane Khusi Ta (Are you happy)” evokes a deafening roar of acceptance.

From poverty to aspirations

From a deficit economy when he took over the reins of Odisha in 2000, to ‘Mo Sarkar’ now, Naveen Patnaik’s governance model has charted a unique route during the last 20 years.

He inherited a state where starvation and tribals consuming gruel made from mango kernels made headlines.

When he introduced the Rs 2-per-kg rice scheme, he was dubbed populist but he quietly ensured food security for the poor.

From the brinks of impoverishment, he has taken the State to a stage where people have been given power to engage with the government, seek redressal of their grievances through Mo Sarkar initiatives.

The State’s economy has grown nearly five times from a Rs 30,861 crore budget in 2004-05 to Rs 1.2 lakh crore in 2020-21.

The focus has shifted from plugging loopholes in the economy, mobilising resources to pay salary and pension to government staff towards a ‘My Government’ model which is aspirational in nature. From empowering women through Mission Shakti to giving SHGs Rs 1,000 crore of business to handle every year, he has changed the course.

Moving from populist schemes such as Aahaar meals, free mobile phones, bi-cycles for school students, laptops for college-goers to Hockey World Cup in 2018, Naveen has successfully set the narrative for the State.

Rising from the devastating impact of Super Cyclone 1999, his Government has attracted international praise for successful handling of Fani and Phailin.

His grand plans for Puri and Bhubaneswar are part of the transformation he seeks to present.

In the 20th year, Naveen wants to present a State which is ready to shed the baggage of the past and move to a new tier.