13 Facts About Naveen Patnaik

Naveen Patnaik is the first president of the Biju Janata Dal since 1997.

Naveen Patnaik served as the Union Minister of Steel and Mines from 1998 to 2000 and a member of the Lok Sabha from Aska from 1997 to 2000.

Naveen Patnaik was educated at the Welham Boys' School in Dehradun, and later The Doon School.

Naveen Patnaik is one of the founding members of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.

The new party was in alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance performed well and Naveen Patnaik was selected the Union Minister for Mines in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

BJP led NDA lost the general elections in 2004 the coalition led by Naveen Patnaik emerged victorious in the state legislative elections and he continued as the Chief Minister.

Naveen Patnaik did it after severely criticizing BJP's involvement in Kandhamal anti-Christian riots during 2008.

Naveen Patnaik won a huge victory in both the 2014 Indian general elections and the Legislative Assembly of Odisha elections in 2014.

In spite of a strong BJP wave across the country, the Biju Janata Dal, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik won as many as 112 seats out of 146 in the Legislative Assembly of Odisha and 12 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 Indian general elections.

Naveen Patnaik was himself defeated in Kantabanji constituency by 16,344 votes, marking his first electoral defeat.

Naveen Patnaik spent most of his early days away from Odisha, so he has problems with writing and speaking fluently in Odia language.

Naveen Patnaik is the only chief minister of India who does not speak fluently the regional language of his state and because of this, he has been facing severe criticism from his opponents.

Presently, Naveen Patnaik has an adequate working knowledge of Odia and he possesses great mastery over Hindi, French, Punjabi, and English.