The legacy debate: Biju Patnaik's shadow looms large over Odisha's political future

This is going to be the beginning of the 30th year of the legendary freedom fighter Biju Patnaik’s demise. He passed away on April 17, 1997, in Delhi, and his cremation the next day at Puri sea beach was attended by the who's who in national politics, including the then Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and two former Prime Ministers, Chandra Shekhar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, besides representatives of foreign countries, particularly Indonesia and Russia. The regional party formed in his name months after his death had a successful run, being part of the Vajpayee government and ruling Odisha for a record 24 years under his writer-turned-politician son Naveen Patnaik's chief ministership.

Now that the Biju Janata Dal is faced with internal dissension since the party lost to the BJP in the 2024 general election, the issue of 'Biju Legacy' has taken centre-stage in Odisha politics, particularly by followers of the late leader who had been sidelined by his son. On Friday, the disgruntled veterans are observing the death anniversary of Biju Patnaik, which is being projected as a platform of 'Biju Legacy' with wider ramifications on the state's politics, particularly the future of the 29-year-old BJD.

All these developments lead to one conclusion: Biju Patnaik, former chief minister of Odisha, who was the most popular leader of post-independence Odisha besides having a unique national standing with no comparison, still remains a factor in the state's politics. The BJD seemed to be in decline, followed by its complete rout in the 2024 Lok Sabha election along with its defeat in the assembly election, its defeat in the Nawapara assembly by-election in 2025, where the party was pushed to third position from its victory in 2024, defection of its two Rajya Sabha MPs to BJP, and cross-voting of eight BJD MLAs in last month's Rajya Sabha elections, because of which the common candidate projected by the BJD along with Congress lost to the BJP-supported independent candidate, former Union minister Dilip Ray.

However, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's controversial remark about Biju Patnaik suddenly came to the rescue of the BJD, as it led to a political row in Odisha and also in Delhi. Dubey, in his usual tirades against the Nehru family, had said that Nehru had fought the 1962 China war with American money and in collaboration with CIA agents, in which Biju Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha at that time, was a link between the US government, the CIA, and Nehru. Dubey said, "I released two of Nehru's letters in which he is telling his officials, especially the then American ambassador, to do their job. Nehru told officials the government had sent Patnaik to the US for important work, and he is talking about defence matters.

"Then there was the Charbatia air base in Odisha, in which Biju Patnaik was involved, built for U-2 spy planes. That aircraft base was used by the US between 1963 and 1979," Dubey said.

Reacting to this, BJD Rajya Sabha leader Sasmit Patra said Dubey was attempting to distort history and malign a 'revered leader' for political gains. Patra said he was resigning as a member of the parliamentary standing committee on Communications and IT, which is chaired by Dubey, in protest. Naveen Patnaik, who is the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, also came down heavily on Dubey and said the latter needs to consult a doctor for making outrageous remarks on Biju Patnaik. In Parliament, other opposition party members also criticised Dubey for this. In Odisha, the BJP government reacted sharply against Dubey. State Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan slammed Dubey's remarks linking Biju Patnaik to the CIA as 'unacceptable' and 'personal opinion'. He said that Dubey's statement had deeply hurt Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid rich tributes to the late leader in a letter addressed to CM Majhi on the occasion of the state's foundation day on April 1. In his letter, Modi wrote, "This is the soil that nurtured the great Biju Patnaik, whose life epitomises strength, courage, and unwavering commitment to nation-building. Biju babu's multi-faceted personality inspires us all."

Dubey later tendered an unconditional apology.

But the BJD criticised the state BJP government for abruptly adjourning the state assembly's budget session without a discussion on the reported offensive remarks made by Dubey against Biju Patnaik. BJD's Opposition Deputy Leader Prasanna Acharya told media that the Opposition had submitted a proposal to the Speaker of the assembly for a formal condemnation motion. After a discussion, the Speaker accepted it and said the timing of the debate would be decided by the Business Advisory Committee. However, the assembly was unexpectedly adjourned at midnight, Acharya rued.

The issue brought discussion on the late pilot-turned-politician's daring mission to Indonesia in 1947, in which he had rescued Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir and Vice-President Achmad Sukarno from Dutch occupation and brought them to India in his own Dakota plane. That he had given the name of its founder President Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri, who later on became her country's President, came for discussion as no other Indian has named the president of a country yet. Moreover, Megawati named her first granddaughter 'Orissa Putri' (Diah Pikatan Orissa Putri Hapsari) in memory of her dear uncle "Biju Patnaik", whose mother Puan Maharani is now Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (since 2019). It is another rare honour for any Indian, forget Odisha.

Since BJD had been formed and revolved around Biju's charismatic persona, discussion about him amid the Dubey controversy and the effort of the late leader's followers, whom Naveen Patnaik had sidelined, to unite on the occasion of the late leader's death anniversary on April 17 at Bhubaneswar, again re-establishes the late leader's relevance. And to think more than half of Odisha's present population had not been born when Biju Patnaik had died on this day three decades ago.

BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, 80, has lately been active, perhaps after recovery from his spine surgery in Mumbai in June of last year. Though in last month's Rajya Sabha election BJD's Santrupta Mishra won and BJP state president Manmohan Samal and Sujit Kumar were elected as per the strength of respective parties, the real fight took place for the fourth seat. Though the BJD had been projected as close to the BJP for many years, even after the 2024 general election, for the first time during the Rajya Sabha election, Naveen Patnaik tied up with Congress and communists, a first since his party's formation. Because after he had formed the BJD, he had tied up with the BJP, and both the parties contested the 1998 Lok Sabha election together. The alliance swept the poll, and Naveen Patnaik became a cabinet minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's coalition government.

The BJD-BJP alliance repeated its success in the 1999 Lok Sabha election and fought the 2000 assembly election together. They dethroned the state's Congress government, and Naveen Patnaik became chief minister of the coalition government. The alliance repeated its success in the 2004 assembly and Lok Sabha polls held together, as Naveen preponed the assembly election by one year to club it with the Lok Sabha poll, a strategy which helped him in the long run, except in 2024. Though the BJP-led NDA lost the 2004 Lok Sabha poll in Odisha, the BJD-BJP won maximum seats mainly due to Naveen Patnaik's Mr Clean image.

But the alliance broke before 2009 because of the communal riot in Kandhamal district where Sangh Parivar was allegedly involved. But after that, Naveen Patnaik-led BJD did better and single-handedly won all assembly and Lok Sabha elections till they lost power in 2024 due to the 'Odia Asmita' (Odia pride) factor harped by BJP led by PM Modi. Naveen Patnaik became less visible in public and did not even go to his secretariat office; in the 2024 election, he did not go to all assembly constituencies. His former private secretary, Tamil Nadu-born Odisha cadre IAS officer V.K. Pandian, became BJD's star campaigner after resigning from government job, which led to public suspicion that the latter may usurp power, and the BJP cashed in on it.

Odisha's real economic development took place during Naveen Patnaik's regime, who was considered a novice when he was drafted by the then Janata Dal leadership in Delhi to contest the by-election for Lok Sabha from his father's constituency in Odisha, though he didn't know Odia. But he proved to be the only successful second-generation politician in India to emerge as the second longest-serving chief minister in the country, though he had not been groomed by his family for a political career.

That the Biju factor is still influencing political discourse in Odisha is because of these rare traits. Interestingly, the BJD led by Naveen Patnaik and his followers, and the rebel faction inlcuding Dilip Ray, a former minister who won Rajya Sabha election recently with official backing of BJP besides the support of eight BJD MLAs and three Congress MLAs, who have been suspended from their parties later on, and other leaders including media baron and ex-BJD legislator Soumyaranjan Patnaik, son-in-law of former Congress chief minister J.B. Patnaik, are separately observing the anniversary of the late leader. The rebel group may form another regional political party, political observers assume.

The BJD is also observing 'Prabada Purusha Dibasa' in memory of the late leader in all assembly constituencies. The party is organising seminars, discussions, and statewide outreach programmes to highlight his legacy. On the other hand, rivals claim Biju Patnaik's legacy belongs to all Odias, not a single political party. Fomer minister in Biju Patnaik’s government and current BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra said, "People who admire Biju babu will come together to deliberate on his ideologies. We have invited everyone. There is nothing political about it." Many senior politicians from other parties like former PCC President Niranjan Patnaik, and retired bureaucrats also attended the programme. But BJD has strongly criticised the parallel event. Senior MLA Arun Sahoo said attempts to use Biju Patnaik's name for political gains would not succeed.

The developments highlight a critical phase in the state's politics and a possible turning point for future political equations.