The Biju Janata Dal 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.
Naveen Patnaik is an Indian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister of Odisha from 5th 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.
Bhartruhari Mahtab is an Indian politician, the son of Late Shri Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab. He was a member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) political party, and resigned from the BJD to join BJP on 28th March, 2024. He was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 from Cuttack constituency in Odisha. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 from the same constituency. He received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award 2017. He is also the recipient of Sansad Ratna Award 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 for his outstanding performance in 'Debates'.
Jual Oram is an Indian Politician who serving as Minister of Tribal Affairs since 2024. He also Member of the 17th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Sundargarh constituency of Odisha. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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.
Anubhav Mohanty is an Indian actor, politician, film producer, television personality and social activist who is known for his work majorly in Odia language films. Mohanty has also worked in Bengali films. Mohanty has a significant fan following especially in Odisha.
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.
Raghubar Das is an Indian politician who is serving as the 26th Governor of Odisha. Das has previously served as the sixth Chief Minister of Jharkhand. He was sworn in as the 6th chief minister of Jharkhand on 28 December 2014. He belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party and has twice served as the president of Jharkhand BJP.
Jayaram Pangi is an Indian politician of Bharatiya Janta Party. He was a member of the Indian Parliament, representing the Koraput. On 9 May 2017 he left BJD and joined hands with Bharatiya Janta Party. He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Koraput seat on a BJP ticket and lost to Congress candidate Saptagiri Ulaka.
Hema Gamang is a political and social worker and a Member of Parliament elected from the Koraput constituency in the Indian state of Odisha as an Indian National Congress candidate.
Pratap Chandra Sarangi, was the Minister of State in the Government of India for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He is a Politician from Balasore, Odisha and serves as a National Executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He won Odisha Legislative Assembly, two times: from 2004 to 2009 and from 2009 to 2014, both times from Nilagiri constituency.
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.
Droupadi Murmu is the 15th & current president of India since 2022. She is an Indian politician and former teacher. She won the 2022 presidential election as a candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She is the first person belonging to the tribal community and also the second woman after Pratibha Patil to hold the office. She is also the youngest person to occupy the post and the first president born in an independent India.
Kumudini Patnaik is an Indian Politician and was elected to the Lok Sabha the lower house of Indian Parliament from Aska, Odisha in 2000 in a bye election as a member of the Biju Janata Dal. But she was expelled from the Biju Janata Dal and she later joined the Congress but lost the Aska seat to Harihar Swain in 2004 and later quit the Congress and joined the BJP.
Arabinda Dhali is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). Dhali is a sixth-term member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and represented the Malkangiri from 1992 to 2000 and the Jayadev constituency from 2009 to 2014. He was a former transport and corporation minister in BJD-BJP alliance. He had quit from BJP, Odisha to join Bharatiya Janshakti Party on 30 April 2006. With Rama Chandra Panda, a former Deputy Speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly, joined Bharatiya Janshakti Party. Then on Monday, Mar 24 2008, he joined the Samajwadi Party. Later, he joined Biju Janata Dal. and won as an MLA from Jayadev Assembly constituency in 2019 Odisha Legislative Assembly election. He later quit BJD and joined Bharatiya Janata Party on 3 March 2024. Mr. Dhali will fight 2024 Odisha Legislative Assembly election from BJP for the Jayadev assembly segment in Khurda district.
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.
Ashwini Vaishnaw is an Indian politician, former IAS officer and a businessman who serving as 39th Minister of Railways, 2nd Minister of Information and Broadcasting and 2nd Minister of Electronics and Information Technology since 2024.
Biswabhusan Harichandan is an Indian politician serving as the 8th and current Governor of Chhattisgarh. He was former Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2019 to early 2023.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in the eastern coastal state of Odisha from 13 May to 1 June 2024 to elect the 147 members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and results were declared on 4 June 2024 for all members of the 17th Odisha Assembly. Bharatiya Janata Party secured a majority with 78 seats, ending the 24-year long Biju Janata Dal rule in the state under Naveen Patnaik. For the first time, BJP formed the government on its own in Odisha with Mohan Charan Majhi as the 15th Chief Minister of the state. CM, two deputy CMs and various other ministers were sworn in on 12 June.
Kartikeyan Pandian, is a former member of the Biju Janata Dal from the state of Odisha and a former IAS officer.
