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.
Utkal Congress was a political party in the Indian state of Odisha. It was formed in 1969 when Biju Patnaik left Indian National Congress. After the 1971 Odisha elections UC took part in the Bishwanath Das ministry in the state. In 1974 Utkal Congress merged into Pragati Legislature Party which eventually merged into Bharatiya Lok Dal.
The Pragati Legislature Party(Also called Pragati Dal) was a political grouping in the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state Orissa. PLP was formed in 1973 by the Utkal Congress, Swatantra Party and others. The PLP leader Biju Patnaik, was elected as the Leader of the Opposition of the Assembly on February 9, 1973. His tenure as Leader of Opposition lasted until March 3 the same year. On that date President's Rule was introduced in the state.
Bijayananda Patnaik was an Indian politician and aviator. He served as the 3rd Chief Minister of the State of Odisha from 1961 to 1963 and from 1990 to 1995. He was also the 14th Steel and mines and 1st Coal Union Minister of India from 1979 to 1980 and from 1977 to 1979 and a member of Lok Sabha from Kendrapara from 1977 to 1985. He is the father of Naveen Patnaik, who was the CM of Odisha.
Jagatsinghpur is a town and a municipality in Jagatsinghpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of Jagatsinghpur district. It got the recognition as a new district on 1 April 1993 formerly it was a sub-division of Cuttack district. Paradip Port, Oil refinery and fertiliser factory are located in Jagatsinghpur district. Devi, Alaka, Biluakhai, Kusumi, Hansua, Kuanria and Lunijhara rivers belong to this district.
The Odia (ଓଡ଼ିଆ), formerly spelled Oriya, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the Indian state of Odisha who speak the Odia language. They constitute a majority in the eastern coastal state, with significant minority populations existing in the neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The Karan or Karana is a community of scribes found in the state of Odisha in India. The post of Karana used to be a professional designation that was occupied by literate members of the lower as well as the higher castes. They also held Karanam post in some parts of Andhra Pradesh, where they speak Odia and played the similar role in Odisha as that of the Kayasthas of West Bengal and Bihar. Traditionally they were the official record-keepers in the royal courts of the Odia princely states historically. Today they are a politically dominant community and have reigned over the politics of Odisha for 40 years.
Biswambhar Parida was an Indian Freedom fighter who was born in Jagatsinghpur District in Indian state of Odisha. He plunged into Indian Independence Movement at a very early age, was a devout follower of Gandhian Freedom Movement and was imprisoned for around two years. He got himself involved in many social, literary and organizational activities among his in-mates and fellow Freedom Fighters, while being at Berhampur Prison.
Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The university has nine schools, thirty three academic departments and a student enrolment of nearly 8,000. It is one of the oldest educational institutes in the country and its history is synonymous with the history of modern Odisha.
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 Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee(1921-2024) was the unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Odisha. It is responsible for organizing and coordinating the party's activities and campaigns within the state, as well as selecting candidates for local, state, and national elections in Odisha.
Annapurna Choudhury was an India pro-independence activist active in the Indian independence movement. She was also a prominent social and women's rights activist. Maharana was a close ally of Mahatma Gandhi.
Kanaka Bardhan Singh Deo is an Indian politician from Odisha and a member of the erstwhile royal family of Patna, Bolangir. He is serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha as well as Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, Energy. He is also a member of the National Executive of the BJP.
Hussain Rabi Gandhi was an Indian Odia writer of the late-twentieth century, a politician, a public intellectual and a cultural activist hailing from the Indian state of Odisha. Being a founder member of Biju Janata Dal, he served as the general secretary of the party from upon its formation in 1998 till 2005. In 1994 the title of Biplabi Loka Kabi was conferred upon him by the Mayor of Cuttack. He was also awarded with the title of Utkala Jyoti in 1996 by the then Deputy chief minister of Odisha, Basant Kumar Biswal on the behalf of Freedom Fighter's Organisation. Gandhi primarily wrote in Odia language and was bestowed with the Secular India Harmony Award in 1993 by the former President of India, Giani Zail Singh and with the Gangadhar Meher Kabita award in 2015 for his notable contributions to the field of Odia poetry. Hussain served as the President of Odisha Sahitya Akademi (2008–2010). He was famously known as the Gandhi of Korei and was regarded as a bridge between Western Odisha and Coastal Odisha. He also served as Lead Member of Smt. Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT).
Kiran Chandra Singh Deo was an Indian politician and Freedom fighter from Odisha. He was one of the founding members of Biju Janata Dal in Odisha politics. He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Kesinga Vidhan Sabha constituency in the 1990 Odisha Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Janata Dal.
Surendra Nath Naik was an Indian politician, a senior leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and a former minister in Odisha. He served seven terms as a Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly. Naik was a cabinet minister in the BJD-BJP coalition government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from 2000 to 2009, overseeing various portfolios including excise, revenue, school and mass education, and Panchayati Raj. Naik also served as the deputy chairman of the Odisha Planning Board from 2012 to 2014.
