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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 BJD used to have the largest number of seats in the Odisha Legislative Assembly before the 2024 elections. BJD leader and former chief minister Naveen Pattanaik, served as the 14th Chief Minister of Odisha from 5th March 2000 to 5th June 2024. Other parties represented in the assembly are the BJP who have defeated BJD in the 2024 elections, the Congress Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Mohan Charan Majhi of BJP is the current Chief Minister of Odisha since 11th June 2024. The next assembly election is scheduled for 2029.
Odisha is represented by 21 members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament. They are elected from geographic constituencies. In the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of parliament), the state is represented by 10 members who are elected by the legislative assembly.
Odisha was part of the Bengal Presidency during the British Raj. The presidency was split in 1912, creating Bihar and Orissa Province. In 1936, Orissa Province was created from the Odia-speaking areas of Bihar and Orissa Province and portions of the Vizagapatam Hill Tracts Agency and Ganjam Hill Tracts Agency.
The Government of India Act 1935 provided for the election of a provincial legislative assembly and government, and the head of government was designated as the prime minister. Assembly elections were held in 1937; the Indian National Congress won a majority of the seats, but declined to form a government. A minority provisional government was formed under Krushna Chandra Gajapati, the maharaja of Paralakhemundi. The Congress reversed its decision, and resolved to form a government in July 1937; the governor invited Bishwanath Das to do so. In 1939, with Congress ministers in other provinces, Das resigned in protest of the Governor-General's declaration of war against Germany without consulting Indian leaders. Orissa was under governor's rule until 1941, when Gajapati again became the premier until 1944. Another round of elections was held in 1946 with another Congress majority, and a government was formed under Harekrushna Mahatab.
With Indian independence the position of prime minister was replaced with that of chief minister, and Mahatab became Odisha's first chief minister. Most of the Odia-speaking princely states acceded to India, and were merged with Odisha. In 1951-52, the first elections were held under India's new constitution. Congress won a minority of seats, so failed to obtain a majority. A coalition government was formed by Nabakrushna Choudhury, with the support of several independents.
After Nabakrushna Choudhury, there was great political instability in Odisha during the 20th century. Chief Ministers changed frequently. It was Janaki Ballabh Patnaik who served for a good period. He was the first CM to complete full terms , also without coalition. His INC was defeated by Biju Pattnaik's Janata Dal in 1990. In turn, JD was defeated by INC in 1995. Later JB Pattnaik's image got demolished. Finally, it was Naveen Patnaik, who brought political stability in Odisha by serving for 25 years. He is the longest serving CM of Odisha.
The state has a mix of national and regional political parties:
Former political parties are:
# | Portrait | Name (Lifespan) | Tenure | Assembly (Election) | Party [a] | Government | Appointer (Governor) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | Harekrushna Mahatab (1899–1987) MLA from East Bhadrak | 26 January 1950 | 12 May 1950 | 106 days | 2nd Provincial (1946) | Indian National Congress | Mahtab I | Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi | |
2 | ![]() | Nabakrushna Choudhuri (1901–1984) MLA from East Bhadrak (1950-1952) MLA from Barchana (1952-1957) | 12 May 1950 | 20 February 1952 | 6 years, 160 days | Choudhari I | Asaf Ali | |||
20 February 1952 | 19 October 1956 | 1st (1952) | Choudhari II | |||||||
(1) | ![]() | Harekrushna Mahatab (1899–1987) MLA from Soro | 19 October 1956 | 5 April 1957 | 4 years, 129 days | Mahtab II | Bhim Sen Sachar | |||
6 April 1957 | 25 February 1961 | 2nd (1957) | Mahtab III | |||||||
President's rule was imposed in during the period (25 February – 23 June 1961) | ||||||||||
3 | ![]() | Biju Patnaik (1916-1967) MLA from Choudwar | 23 June 1961 | 2 October 1963 | 2 years, 101 days | 3rd (1961) | Indian National Congress | Biju I | Yashwant Narayan Sukthankar | |
4 | ![]() | Biren Mitra (1917-1978) MLA from Cuttack City | 2 October 1963 | 21 February 1965 | 1 year, 142 days | Mitra | Ajudhia Nath Khosla | |||
5 | ![]() | Sadashiva Tripathy (1910-1980) MLA from Umerkote | 21 February 1965 | 8 March 1967 | 2 years, 15 days | Tripathy | ||||
6 | ![]() | Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo (1912-1975) MLA from Bolangir | 8 March 1967 | 9 January 1971 | 3 years, 307 days | 4th (1967) | Swatantra Party | Singh Deo | ||
President's rule was imposed in during the period (11 January – 3 April 1971) | ||||||||||
7 | ![]() | Bishwanath Das (1889–1984) MLA from Rourkela | 3 April 1971 | 14 June 1972 | 1 year, 72 days | 5th (1971) | Independent | Das II | Shaukatullah Shah Ansari | |
8 | ![]() | Nandini Satpathy (1936-2006) MLA from Cuttack City | 14 June 1972 | 3 March 1973 | 262 days | Indian National Congress | Satpathy I | Jogendra Singh | ||
President's rule was imposed in during the period (3 March 1973 – 6 March 1974) | ||||||||||
(8) | ![]() | Nandini Satpathy (1936-2006) MLA from Dhenkanal | 6 March 1974 | 16 December 1976 | 2 years, 285 days | 6th (1974) | Indian National Congress | Satpathy II | Basappa Danappa Jatti | |
President's rule was imposed in during the period (16 December – 29 December 1976) | ||||||||||
9 | ![]() | Binayak Acharya (1918-1983) MLA from Berhampur | 29 December 1976 | 30 April 1977 | 122 days | 6th (1974) | Indian National Congress | Acharya | Siba Narain Sankar | |
President's rule was imposed in during the period (30 April – 26 June 1977) | ||||||||||
10 | ![]() | Nilamani Routray (1920-2004) MLA from Basudevpur | 26 June 1977 | 17 February 1980 | 2 years, 236 days | 7th (1977) | Janata Party | Routray | Harcharan Singh Brar | |
President's rule was imposed in during the period (17 Feburary – 9 June 1980) | ||||||||||
11 | ![]() | Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (1927-2015) MLA from Athagarh | 9 June 1980 | 10 March 1985 | 9 years, 181 days | 8th (1980) | Indian National Congress | Janaki I | C. M. Poonacha | |
10 March 1985 | 7 December 1989 | 9th (1985) | Janaki II | Bishambhar Nath Pande | ||||||
12 | ![]() | Hemananda Biswal (1939-2022) MLA from Laikera | 7 December 1989 | 5 March 1990 | 88 days | Biswal I | Saiyid Nurul Hasan | |||
(3) | ![]() | Biju Patnaik (1916-1967) MLA from Bhubaneswar | 5 March 1990 | 15 March 1995 | 5 years, 10 days | 10th (1990) | Janata Dal | Biju II | Yagya Dutt Sharma | |
(11) | ![]() | Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (1927-2015) MLA from Begunia | 15 March 1995 | 17 February 1999 | 3 years, 339 days | 11th (1995) | Indian National Congress | Janaki III | B. Satya Narayan Reddy | |
13 | ![]() | Giridhar Gamang (born 1943) MLA from Laxmipur | 17 February 1999 | 6 December 1999 | 292 days | Gamang | C. Rangarajan | |||
(12) | ![]() | Hemananda Biswal (1939-2022) MLA from Laikera | 6 December 1999 | 5 March 2000 | 90 days | Biswal II | M. M. Rajendran | |||
14 | ![]() | Naveen Patnaik (born 1946) MLA from Hinjili | 5 March 2000 | 16 May 2004 | 24 years, 99 days | 12th (2000) | Biju Janata Dal | Naveen I | ||
16 May 2004 | 21 May 2009 | 13th (2004) | Naveen II | |||||||
21 May 2009 | 21 May 2014 | 14th (2009) | Naveen III | Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare | ||||||
21 May 2014 | 29 May 2019 | 15th (2014) | Naveen IV | S. C. Jamir | ||||||
29 May 2019 | 12 June 2024 | 16th (2019) | Naveen V | Ganeshi Lal | ||||||
15 | ![]() | Mohan Charan Majhi (born 1972) MlA from Keonjhar | 12 June 2024 | Incumbent | 1 year, 78 days | 17th (2024) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Majhi | Raghubar Das |
Elections to the first Vidhan Sabha (1952–57) of Odisha were held in 1951–52. The Indian National Congress won 67 seats with 37.87 percent of the vote, and Ganatantra Parishad won 31 seats and 20.50 percent of vote. [3] Congress fell short of a simple majority, but formed a government with the support of independents; Nabakrushna Choudhury was chief minister. The Socialist Party and the Communist Party of India won 10 and 7 seats, respectively, and 24 independents were elected. Nabakrushna Choudhury resigned after the 1955 flood, and Harekrushna Mahatab returned as chief minister.
Elections to the second Vidhan Sabha (1957–62) were held in 1957. [4] Congress won a plurality with 56 seats, and Ganatantra Parishad won 51 seats; Congress formed a government led by Harekrushna Mahatab .
The most recent election was held in 2019. Biju Janata Dal returned to power with a majority, winning 112 of 147 seats. The BJP won 23 seats (becoming the main opposition), and the INC won nine seats.
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