Politics of Odisha

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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.

Contents

Present day

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.

History

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.

Parties

The state has a mix of national and regional political parties:

Former political parties are:

Chief ministers

#PortraitName

(Lifespan)
Constituency

Tenure Assembly

(Election)

Party [a] GovernmentAppointer

(Governor)

1 Harekrushna Mahatab 2000 stamp of India.jpg Harekrushna Mahatab
(1899–1987)
MLA from East Bhadrak
26 January 195012 May 1950106 days2nd Provincial

(1946)

Indian National Congress Mahtab I Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi
2 Nabakrushna-Choudhury.jpg Nabakrushna Choudhuri
(1901–1984)
MLA from East Bhadrak
(1950-1952)
MLA from Barchana
(1952-1957)
12 May 195020 February 19526 years, 160 daysChoudhari I Asaf Ali
20 February 195219 October 1956 1st

(1952)

Choudhari II
(1) Harekrushna Mahatab 2000 stamp of India.jpg Harekrushna Mahatab
(1899–1987)
MLA from Soro
19 October 19565 April 19574 years, 129 daysMahtab II Bhim Sen Sachar
6 April 195725 February 1961 2nd

(1957)

Mahtab III
President's rule was imposed in during the period (25 February – 23 June 1961)
3 Biju-Patnaik.jpg Biju Patnaik
(1916-1967)
MLA from Choudwar
23 June 19612 October 19632 years, 101 days 3rd

(1961)

Indian National Congress Biju I Yashwant Narayan Sukthankar
4 Biren-Mitra.jpg Biren Mitra
(1917-1978)
MLA from Cuttack City
2 October 196321 February 19651 year, 142 daysMitra Ajudhia Nath Khosla
5 Sadasiva-Tripathy.jpg Sadashiva Tripathy
(1910-1980)
MLA from Umerkote
21 February 19658 March 19672 years, 15 daysTripathy
6 RNS-Deo.jpg Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo
(1912-1975)
MLA from Bolangir
8 March 19679 January 19713 years, 307 days 4th

(1967)

Swatantra Party Singh Deo
President's rule was imposed in during the period (11 January – 3 April 1971)
7 Biswanath-Das.jpg Bishwanath Das
(1889–1984)
MLA from Rourkela
3 April 197114 June 19721 year, 72 days 5th

(1971)

Independent Das II Shaukatullah Shah Ansari
8 Nandini-Satapathy.jpg Nandini Satpathy
(1936-2006)
MLA from Cuttack City
14 June 19723 March 1973262 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-Satapathy.jpg Nandini Satpathy
(1936-2006)
MLA from Dhenkanal
6 March 197416 December 19762 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, Former CM, Odisha.jpg Binayak Acharya
(1918-1983)
MLA from Berhampur
29 December 197630 April 1977122 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 NilamaniRautray.jpg Nilamani Routray
(1920-2004)
MLA from Basudevpur
26 June 197717 February 19802 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 J B Pattnaik, Governor of Assam.jpg Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
(1927-2015)
MLA from Athagarh
9 June 198010 March 19859 years, 181 days 8th

(1980)

Indian National Congress Janaki I C. M. Poonacha
10 March 19857 December 1989 9th

(1985)

Janaki II Bishambhar Nath Pande
12 Hemananda-Biswal.jpg Hemananda Biswal
(1939-2022)
MLA from Laikera
7 December 19895 March 199088 daysBiswal I Saiyid Nurul Hasan
(3) Biju-Patnaik.jpg Biju Patnaik
(1916-1967)
MLA from Bhubaneswar
5 March 199015 March 19955 years, 10 days 10th

(1990)

Janata Dal Biju II Yagya Dutt Sharma
(11) J B Pattnaik, Governor of Assam.jpg Janaki Ballabh Patnaik
(1927-2015)
MLA from Begunia
15 March 199517 February 19993 years, 339 days 11th

(1995)

Indian National Congress Janaki III B. Satya Narayan Reddy
13 Giridhar Gamang (cropped).jpg Giridhar Gamang
(born 1943)
MLA from Laxmipur
17 February 19996 December 1999292 daysGamang C. Rangarajan
(12) Hemananda-Biswal.jpg Hemananda Biswal
(1939-2022)
MLA from Laikera
6 December 19995 March 200090 daysBiswal II M. M. Rajendran
14 NaveenPatnaik.jpg Naveen Patnaik
(born 1946)
MLA from Hinjili
5 March 200016 May 200424 years, 99 days 12th

(2000)

Biju Janata Dal Naveen I
16 May 200421 May 2009 13th

(2004)

Naveen II
21 May 200921 May 2014 14th

(2009)

Naveen III Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare
21 May 201429 May 2019 15th

(2014)

Naveen IV S. C. Jamir
29 May 201912 June 2024 16th

(2019)

Naveen V Ganeshi Lal
15 Mohan Charan Majhi (2024 Image).jpg Mohan Charan Majhi
(born 1972)
MlA from Keonjhar
12 June 2024Incumbent1 year, 78 days 17th

(2024)

Bharatiya Janata Party Majhi Raghubar Das
  1. This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.

Elections

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Election Commission of India". Assembly Election 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Odisha Lok Sabha Election Result 2019, Odisha Assembly and General Poll Result 2019 – IndiaToday". IndiaToday. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  3. Bailey, F.G. (1963). Politics and Social Change: Orissa in 1959 . Campus: Géographie. University of California Press. p.  3. ISBN   978-0-520-01678-1 . Retrieved 9 September 2019.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  4. Bailey, F.G. (1963). Politics and Social Change: Orissa in 1959 . Campus: Géographie. University of California Press. p.  4. ISBN   978-0-520-01678-1 . Retrieved 9 September 2019.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)