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.
Shankersinh Vaghela is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Gujarat from. He was also the Leader of Opposition in 13th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism, possibly due to the absence of party organizations, independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party, or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national, state, regional, and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers, and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties, other national and regional parties such as Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Kerala Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, AIMIM, and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families, mostly those of the party founders.
Sambalpur is the fourth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761. Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Sambalpuri sari.
The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directly elected from 117 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The Speaker of the sixteenth assembly is Kultar Singh Sandhwan. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly since 6 March 1961 is the Vidhan Bhavan in Chandigarh.
The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the B. B. D. Bagh area of Kolkata, the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative assembly are directly elected by the people. The legislative assembly comprises 294 Members of Legislative Assembly, all directly elected from single-seat constituencies. Its term is five years, unless sooner dissolved.
Prasanna Acharya is an Indian politician from Odisha, India. He is a former member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha. He is a member of the Biju Janata Dal.
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 Puducherry Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian union territory (UT) of Puducherry, which comprises four districts: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahé and Yanam. Out of eight union territories of India, only three have legislatures and they are Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. After delimitation shortly after its formation, the Puducherry legislative assembly has 33 seats, of which 5 are reserved for candidates from scheduled castes and 3 members are nominated by the Government of India. 30 out of 33 Members are elected directly by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise and the remaining three are nominated by the central government. These nominated members enjoy same powers as elected members of the assembly.
Narasingha Mishra is a politician from Odisha, India. He was the Leader of Opposition in the 15th Odisha Legislative Assembly.
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.
Yashpal Arya is a 7-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh (twice) and Uttarakhand combined. He is a former Minister of Transportation, Social Welfare, Minority and Students' Welfare in the Government of Uttarakhand under Bharatiya Janata Party's rule. Currently, he is an Indian National Congress leader and member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. He is a former Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly under Indian National Congress' rule. He was elected from Mukteshwar constituency in the 2007 Uttarakhand state assembly elections.
Sambalpur is a Vidhan Sabha constituency of Sambalpur district, Odisha, India.
Ajay Mishra Teni is a former Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha. He is the former Minister of State in Ministry of Home affairs, Government of India. He represents the Kheri constituency of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party political party.
Nagendra Kumar Pradhan is an Indian politician. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014 from Sambalpur constituency in Odisha. He was a member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) but joined the Indian National Congress (INC) in 2024 after stating that the BJD and BJP were involved in a "friendly fight" to deprive the people. He is a former member of Legislative Assembly of Odisha.
Droupadi Murmu (née Durgi Biranchi Tudu); born 20 June 1958) 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 Santal a 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.
Mohan Charan Majhi is an Indian politician, currently serving as the 15th Chief Minister of Odisha. He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Keonjhar in the 2024 Odisha Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He also represented the same constituency from 2000 to 2009 and from 2019 to 2024. He served as the chief whip of the BJP in the Odisha assembly from 2019 to 2024. In the year 1997, he entered politics as a Sarpanch.
Bishnu Sethi ( ) was an Indian politician who was the deputy leader of the opposition in the Odisha Legislative Assembly. He was the MLA from Dhamnagar Assembly Constituency.
Harpal Singh Cheema is an Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Dirba Assembly constituency located in Sangrur District, Punjab. In March 2022, he became first BobA to be a finance minister of Punjab. He joined the Aam Aadmi Party just before the 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election. He contested and won the election from Dirba Assembly constituency against a popular Punjabi Kabbadi player Gulzar Singh Moonak from Shiromani Akali Dal and Ajaib Singh Ratolan from Indian National Congress. In July 2018 he was appointed leader of opposition of Punjab Legislative Assembly.
