The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is an Indian regional political party with significant influence in the state of Odisha. It was founded by the former minister of mines and minerals of the Republic of India Naveen Patnaik on 26 December 1997 as a breakaway faction from the Janata Dal. The BJD is led by its founder as president of the party. The headquarters of the party is located in Forest Park, Bhubaneswar.
Elections in Odisha are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Odisha creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India. In addition, the state legislature may be dismissed by the Parliament according to Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and President's rule may be imposed.
Patnayak/ Pattnaik/ Pattanayak/ Patnaik is a native Odia surname found in states like Odisha, northeastern districts of Andhra Pradesh and southern districts of West Bengal in India. This surname is mainly found in Karana community of Odisha. Tadhau Karana servitors of Jagannath Temple, Puri belonging to Karana community mainly use the title "Pattanayaka".
Naveen Patnaik is an Indian politician, writer and former Chief Minister of Odisha. Who served as the 14th Chief Minister of Odisha from 5 March 2000 to 12 June 2024. His 24-year reign is the second longest for a chief minister of any Indian state, after Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim. He is the first president of the Biju Janata Dal since 1997. He 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.
Nandini Satpathy was an Indian politician and author. She was the Chief Minister of Odisha from June 1972 to December 1976.
Pyarimohan Mohapatra was a politician from the Odisha Jana Morcha as a member of the Parliament of India representing Odisha in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. He was the political advisor of Naveen Patnaik. He started his career as an IAS officer and was principal secretary to Biju Patnaik. He was considered as the mastermind and the proxy leader of the Biju Janata Dal.
The politics of Odisha are part of India's federal parliamentary representative democracy, where the union government exercises sovereign rights. Certain powers are reserved to the states, including Odisha. The state has a multi-party system, in which the two main parties are the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the regional, socialist Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The Indian National Congress (INC) has also significant presence.
The 2009 Odisha Legislative Assembly election took place in April 2009, concurrently with the general election. The elections were held in the state in two phases. The results were declared on 16 May. Despite having recently separated from the Bharatiya Janata Party after an eleven-year partnership, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) retained power in the Odisha State Assembly with a more convincing majority. Party chief Naveen Patnaik was formally re-elected as the BJD Legislature party leader on 19 May, thus paving the way for his third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Odisha.
Satya Pal Singh is an Indian politician. He previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development responsible for Higher Education and Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. He is a Member of Parliament (MP) since 2014, representing Baghpat constituency, Uttar Pradesh in the 16th Lok Sabha and then retaining his seat in 2019 elections. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Aama Odisha Party (AOP) was a state political party of the Indian state of Odisha led by Soumya Ranjan Patnaik. It was founded on 26 November 2013. Aama Odisha Party was allotted pot symbol by the Election Commission of India.
Bijoy Mohapatra is a politician from Odisha. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he was Irrigation Minister of Odisha from 1990 to 1995 in the Biju Patnaik cabinet. He was the most powerful minister in Biju Patnaik's cabinet. He was four times MLA from Patkura Constituency of Kendrapara district. He won four straight elections in 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995.
Anubhav Patnaik is an Indian politician currently serving as the Advisor to E & IT Department of Odisha Government in the rank of Minister of State. He was the sitting MLA from Khandapada constituency for the state assembly of Odisha from 2014-2019. He is the son of Late Arun Kumar Patnaik, an erstwhile MLA of the state assembly. He has also been appointed as spokesperson by the ruling party of Odisha, Biju Janata Dal and secretary in charge of “Women Empowerment” for BJD.
The 2019 Odisha assembly election, held between April 11 and April 29, was the 16th quinquennial legislative assembly election to elect 147 MLAs to the 16th legislative assembly of Odisha. Covering 147 constituencies across four phases, the polls coincided with the Lok Sabha elections. Vote counting for the assembly election took place on May 23, concluding before the previous Odisha Assembly's term expiration on June 11.
Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana is a universal health coverage scheme launched by Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik. The program extends coverage to approximately 70 lakh families, with the state government allocating a budget of 250 crore rupees. Services:
- Free health services are available in all state government health care facilities, starting from the subcenter level up to the district headquarter hospital level, with Swasthya Mitras deployed at help desk.
- Annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakhs per family and 7 lakhs per female members of the family.
Aparajita Sarangi is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the incumbent Member of Parliament from Bhubaneswar. A former Odisha cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1994 batch, Sarangi quit her job and joined the BJP on 27 November 2018 to contest the 2019 Indian general election. She was fielded against Biju Janata Dal's Arup Patnaik.
Manjulata Mandal is an Indian politician. She was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, from Bhadrak, Odisha, in the 2019 Indian general election, as a member of the Biju Janata Dal.
Amar Patnaik is a former Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) officer under the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India and former Principal Accountant General (PAG) of Sikkim, Odisha, West Bengal, and Kerala. He opted for voluntary retirement, nine years before completion of his service and joined Biju Janata Dal in the presence of party president and CM Naveen Patnaik on 29 August 2018. Since 28 June 2019, he is the member of the Parliament of India representing Odisha in the Rajya Sabha and general secretary of the BJD Parliamentary Party office, the upper house. He heads the IT-Wing and is also a spokesperson of Biju Janata Dal.
Subhash Chandra Singh is a social activist, people leader and policy maker from the State of Odisha, India. He is the first directly elected Mayor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation, acting Treasurer of Biju Janta Dal and General Secretary of Biju Sramika Samukhya. Previously he has also been member of Rajya Sabha from Odisha and has also served as National spokesperson for BJD. He was elected for Rajya Sabha on 24 March 2020. Being one of the most trusted senior leaders in BJD, he holds the position of Party Treasurer of Biju Janta Dal since 2016.
Vairab Kartikeyan Pandian, is a former member of the Biju Janata Dal from the state of Odisha and a former IAS officer.
Kamala Das was an Indian politician from Odisha. She was a former member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly representing the Bhograi Assembly constituency and served as minister for Education & Youth Services, Health & Family Welfare, Woman and Child Development in Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik Ministry.
President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service (2003) 
Indian Police Medal for Meritorious services (1994).