By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 1, 2022: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has carved out a niche for himself by completing 25 years of public service on Wednesday. On this very day in 1997, for the first time, he got elected to Lok Sabha from Aska constituency and began his political journey stunning both admirers and detractors.

“It has been a nostalgic journey in public life. 25 years back on this day, I was elected as an MP from my state. Gratitude to my 4.5 crore family for their enduring love & unwavering support,” Patnaik tweeted with a hashtag, Jai Jagannath.

Soon after the death of his father and India’s legendary political leader, Biju Patnaik, Naveen surfaced in the political horizon by by winning the Lok Sabha seat of Aska in 1997. The Lok Sabha seat had fallen vacant after the death of Biju Patnaik. Naveen became Union Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and finally became Chief Minister of Odisha in 2000 .

Since 2000, he continued to remain in the Chief Minister chair by winning the trust and heart of the people of Odisha for another four consecutive assembly elections in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 and thereby created a record of five consecutive wins for a Chief Minister in India.

His journey has been very encouraging since he took office as Chief Minister of Odisha in 2000, when the state was devastated in Super Cyclone in 1999 and the treasury was virtually empty. He took the state to a role model in disaster management, fiscal surplus status with single-minded devotion and commitment.

Patnaik primarily focused on the aspects of shelter security, food security, health security and social security for the people of Odisha as well as expediting progress of industry and agriculture.

Transformational leadership has been his forte. He has won many international and national laurels. The United Nations felicitated and applauded him for his efficient handling of Disaster Management in the aftermath of Cyclone Phailin with the model of zero casualty. During Covid-19 pandemic, when the country needed oxygen, it was Odisha under his leadership that provided oxygen to various states in India.

When the nation did not have a sponsor for the men’s and women’s hockey teams of the nation, it was Naveen Patnaik, who came forward to sponsor both these hockey teams of the nation that brought laurels to the country.

Not only hockey, he has brought changes in the field of sports in the state, which was nowhere in the sports map of India. Under his leadership, Odisha particularly, Bhubaneswar is being treated as the sports capital of India. He rightly said, “Investment in sports is an investment in youth. Investment in youth is an investment in the future.”

His 5T mantra of teamwork, technology, transparency and time leading to transformation has worked wonders at the grassroots of Odisha by bringing a silent revolution in areas of health, education, public governance and cultural development of Odisha.

His tireless efforts for the development of Odisha and its 4.5 crore people along with his nation-building activities have led to the emergence of Odisha as a role model in governance and public policy for the nation and the world.

He has left a number of innovative creations as a foot mark in sands of time. From turning Odisha as a state which was known in the eighties for hunger and starvation deaths, to transforming the state into a developing and emerging state of Odisha that the whole nation is taking notice of and talking about.

From empowerment of women through 7 lakh women self-help groups (SHGs) and 80 lakh women in these SHGs to Mamata scheme which was copied as National maternity scheme, Patnaik has left indelible footmarks in the sands of time.

Today, in India and abroad, Patnaik is seen as a role model of governance, whose work speaks. He has often said that he speaks less as he believes his work should speak. On this day, wishes and greetings poured in from his party leaders in social media.