Biju Patnaik was a towering and multi-dimensional
personality no less than a colossus in every sense of the term. This legendary
leader and idol of the masses had almost a hectic and uninterrupted political
career serving his state and the country in different capacities. The uncrowned
hero of Kalinga, maker of new Odisha and formidable personality of Odisha
politics, Biju Patnaik, was born on March 5, 1916 at Cuttack, Odisha. Indeed he
was luckily to be born in a patriotic family.
Early life
Biju Patnaik's life had, indeed, been one of challenges and
adventures. These traits in his character led him to many spectacular
achievements. Biju Patnaik was described by Julian Huxley in his memories as a
remarkable Indian whose adventures will surely fill a book, and by Nehru as “a
man of energy and certain ability”. He became an ace- pilot. During World War
II he did not join the Indian Air Force which attracted many young Indians but
became a dare devil transport pilot when the British commandeered all
commercial planes into a sort of Air command. As he flew these military
transport missions, he undertook cloak and dagger ventures to help Indian
revolutionaries such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Arun Asaf Ali, Achyut Patwardhan,
Manu Bhai Shah and others fighting against the British rule. During those war
days he met a Kashmiri girl, Gyan, in Delhi where they played tennis. They had
earlier once met in her sister's place. Very soon they got married in 1939.
The Braveheart
When the Dutch were at the throat of the Indonesian
Republic, Biju Patnaik flew secret missions into the Indonesian Republic and at
the instance of Nehru brought Sjahariar, the Prime Minister and Mohammed Hatta,
the Vice President of Indonesia. In the summer of 1947 Biju flew to Yogjakarta
on his helping mission. When Biju was ready with his Dakota plane, his wife
Gyan was ready too. She went with him to invigorate his spirit who had left
behind her a few months old baby. To reach Yogjakarta Biju had to fly over Jakarta,
the capital of the province of Batavia, which was under Dutch control and he
was well aware that the Dutch might try to shoot down his Dakota plane. The
next day, on his enroute to Jakarta, he was surrounded by Dutch planes. But
Biju flew the Dakota to such heights that, the Dutch pilots could not match
their aerobatics and finally the Dutch pilots moved away form the Dakota. As
luck would have it, Biju and Gyan returned safely after completing their
mission. Apparently, Biju was far ahead of his time and society and also most
of his party colleagues in thought and ideas.
The successful
entrepreneur
Much before he became the Chief Minister of Odisha, he had a
thorough knowledge about science, economics, politics, geography and history.
The new Odisha is the confluence of ancient Kalinga, Utkala, Odra and Kosala.
Biju knew very well where the Kalinga was. His own Airlines christened as
Kalinga Airlines. He also established Kalinga Tubes, Kalinga Refrigerators
Corporation, Kalinga Iron Works, published Kalinga Oriya daily, founded Kalinga
Trust, and introduced Kalinga Prize. When Biju set up the Kalinga group of
Industries in the late 40's that were the hallmark of his entrepreneurial mind
and the perception of a new Odisha. As an ardent industrialist people called
him the ''Birla of Odisha''. But he lost his mundane life and precious wealth
in politics. Had not in politics he could have maintained the status of a TATA,
BIRLA or AMBANI.
Naveen Patnaik is also a versatile genius in literature. The
influence of his patriotic father, the environment and atmosphere of his
cosmopolitan family has tremendous impact on his mind. His books reflect his
deep interest in Indian cultural history and tradition.''A second paradise''
dealt with Indian culture, ''A Desert Kingdom'' with Indian history and ''The
Garden of life'' with India's environment and traditional knowledge. All these
three books were published not just in India but also widely acclaimed in the
USA and Britain.
Biju Patnaik's Reign: An Era of Development
The 1961 mid-term poll raised the possibility of an end to
political instability, as the Congress Party under the dynamic leadership of
Biju Patnaik emerged victorious with a stable majority. The election result was
a surprise to many. For the first time in the electoral history of the State, the Congress Party under the
leadership of Biju Patnaik secured absolute majority by capturing 82 seats in a
House of 140 polling nearly 44 per cent of the total votes. Biju Patnaik who
flushed with his magnificent victory in the 1961 election was awarded with the
Chief Ministership of the State but appeared to think too much of himself. He
gave an impression that he was all powerful to do anything he likes. He made
many promises of bringing about industrialization in the State. However, due to
his strong initiative, the construction of Paradeep Port and Sunabeda MIG
factory was started. During his tenure as Chief Minister, the Lok Sabha
elections were held in 1962. That was a big opportunity for Biju Patnaik to
demonstrate his leadership before the party High Command. In the election, the
Congress could win 14 seats and a massive 55.5 per cent of votes. Thus, the
massive victory for the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha election during the
Biju Patnaik's tenure as Chief Minister clearly demonstrated his full control
over the party and the confidence he enjoyed from the people of the State
despite factionalism in the party and opposition of the Mahatab group after he
became the Chief Minister. In Odisha, Biju Patnaik embarked on this path of industrialization
and development almost with a reckless abandon. In fact, his first spell of
chief ministership in the 1960's was an era of industrialization and
development. Ambitious and enterprising as he was from his boyhood, Biju
Patnaik always cherished a dream to industrialize Odisha and turn himself into
a top- flight industrialist by setting up large industries in his statewithout
any help from capitalists like the Birlas, Dalmias or Tatas and show to the
people in Odisha that it was possible for them to take up big enterprises on
their own.
After becoming a member of the State Legislative Assembly
Biju showed restlessness to develop industries for him. And with Mahatab at the
helm of affairs in the state Biju had no difficulty in obtaining state patronage.
Mahatab tried to give him all legitimate help from government side. With such
help Biju set up Orissa Textile Mills and also Kalinga Airlines. Soon he set up
other industries like Kalinga Tubes, Kalinga Iron Woks, and Kalinga
Refrigerator Corporation and in fact became monarch of an industrial empire in
Odisha. All his earnings and income derived from his business activities were
invested in Odisha for the purpose of setting up industries and development of
scientific and technical education in Odisha.
The philanthropist
In 1947 he founded a Public Charitable Trust called the
Kalinga Foundation Trust which established the chair of Geology in the Utkal
University, the international Kalinga prize for popularization of science. It
is obvious that in the late forties both Mahatab and Biju Patnaik came close to
each other for their mutual interest. By 1950 Biju had practically become the
principal financial prop of the party and Mahatab always encouraged him to
remain as an industrialist without cherishing any political ambition.The spirit
of adventure that had once prompted Biju Patnaik in his young days to move to
the cockpit of an airplane from the less thrilling job of a ground engineer
again goaded him to grasp the wheel of the administration in his own hands and
steer the state through a rather uncharted course to a bright future of his
dreams. Biju employed all his organizing ability for winning the mid- term poll
in 1961. In the hustings Biju raised high hopes in the minds of the people with
promises that under his rule milk and honey would flow in the lanes and by-
lanes of the poor state. He used to urge the people to draw inspiration from
his life- how he became a man of crores within a few years from a very humble
beginning. In June 1961, Biju took over as the Chief Minister.
Once at the helm of affairs, Biju tried to see that his
ideas and dreams of making Odisha a modern industrial state came true. His
greatest obsession was the sickening backwardness of Odisha. Naturally, he
concentrated all his efforts in finding ways and means to make up the leeway.
With his great pull with the Prime Minister Nehru, Biju not only accelerated
the process of development but was able to locate a number of prestigious projects
in the state, e.g.- the Paradip Port, Sunabedha MIG factory, Talcher Thermal
Power, Plant, Balimela Hydel Project, the Express Highway and many more. The
concept of Panchayat industries to boost the rural economy was given a trial. A
system of competition amongst the Panchayts and Panchayat Samities was introduced.
The winning Panchayats were to get small scale industries as a prize up to the
value of Rs. 1 lakh each and winning Panchayat Samities were to get medium
scale industries up to the value of Rs. 1 crore each. By this method in
geometrical progression, the entire state would have been industrialized within
a span of 20/25 years. The scheme not only received the approval and active
support of the Planning Commission and the Government of India but also
inspired several State Governments to take up similar projects.
These apart, Biju Patnaik was fortunate in having a Governor
who was equally energetic. He was Ayodhya Nath Khosla, an eminent engineer who
gave all help and encouragement to Biju Patnaik to give shape to his ideas.
Khosla himself drafted a ten-year plan for the integrated development of the
river basins of Odisha. The plan covering the period from 1963-1973 was called
the Odisha's decade of destiny. This was a modern industrialist's approach to a
conservative bureaucracy. Truly, the state had embarked on a new adventure
under his stewardship. Everything was going tempo. But it was rather strange
that a man like him, who had the noble ideas of building the state's economy
round the peasantry, was oblivious of a very fundamental aspect in his zeal for
setting up a major port at Paradeep and to connect it by an Express Highway to
facilitate iron ore movement by road. Both the costly projects proved to be a
heavy burden on the state Exchequer and resulted in a lop- sided growth of the
state since not much resources were left for the development of agriculture and
irrigation, two most vital sectors for a poor state like Odisha, where 80% of
people lived on agriculture. Moreover, by taking up the Paradeep Port Project
he threw on the public exchequer a liability of about Rs. 16 crores - the
amount spent on the project. The project became sort of a white elephant and
Biju Patnaik had to face hostile criticism from his political opponents. The
port was eventually taken over by the Government of India but the dispute over
the reimbursement of the cost persisted and continued to be a bone of
contention between the Centre and the State. Due to implementation of the Kamraj
Plan he had to resign from his office at the instance of the Congress High
Command for organizational work of the party on a full-time basis. Thus, Biju
Patnaik's resignation ended the hope of political stability. Even with an
absolute majority behind it, the Congress could not provide political stability
in the State and the Party had three Chief Ministers in six years. After Biju
Patnaik's resignation Biren Mitra formed the next Congress Government on
October 2, 1963. Biju Patnaik was made the chairperson of the State Planning
Board to look after planning and development of the State, the post that he
held until January 29,1965. By that time, Biju Patnaik fell from the grace of the Prime Minister because of his pro-Sanjiva Reddy stand.
As Biju Patnaik was defeated in the Assembly poll, he sought election to the Rajya Sabha. The Party recommended his name to the Central
Parliamentary Board which rejected it and selected Narayan Patra as the Party's candidate though his name was not sent by the P.C.C.
The followers of Patnaik revolted and set up T.Sanganna as their candidate. The
outcome was a setback for the Congress(R) as both the official nominees Patra
and rebel candidate Sanganna were defeated. Ultimately, the High Command
accused Patnaik and suspended him on May 24, 1970 along with a few of his
followers. Biju Patnaik, therefore, left Congress and formed his state-based
party "Utkal Congress". After the birth of the Utkal Congress, a new spate of
developments took place in Odisha. Mahtab was waiting for such a situation.
With Patnaik in it, he disliked Congress, when he was out, and he tried his
best to enter into it. Biju Patnaik in the Opposition Bench Biju Patnaik's
contribution to India's democracy was the role he played tenaciously and
repeatedly in Odisha and at national level for forming opposition unity through
times of factional politics. The Indira wave virtually had no impact in the
General Election of 1971 to the Odisha Legislative Assembly. The Swatantra
Party secured 36 seats and the Utkal Congress of Biju Patnaik 32 seats, which
after September by election became 36 seats. The Jharkhand, the P.S.P., and the
C.P.I. secured four seats each.The CPI (M) begged two and Independents secured
four seats. Soon after the election the attempt for a Coalition Government of
Congress and UtkalCongress could not succeed. A coalition government was formed
and Biswanath Das assumed the charge of office on 3rd April 1971in Odisha. The
government headed by Biswanath Das depended on the Swatantra Party, the
Jharakhand Party and the Utkal Congress.
Despite his stay outside the formal power structure, Biju
Patnaik was the unquestioned master of his Utkal Congress Party and coalition
government. The Coalition Ministry came to the edge of fall down because of
disagreement among the partners. By hook or by crook, the coalitions continued
till June 1972. In the same time, the Utkal Congress Legislative Party under
the leadership of Biju Patnaik, (this had 34 members) decided to rejoin the
Congress Party. But the Congress Party admitted only 28 members of the Utkal
Congress Party and the rest six members including Biju Patnaik remained in the
opposition as Independent members. The Congress party,thereafter, formed
Ministry with Smt. Nandini Satpathy as Chief Minister.Thus, the Utkal Congress
was again revived in November 1972 and an 18 member legislative party including
the left out seven Biju Patnaik as the leader. In February 1973, a combined
front styled as the Pragati Legislative Party with the members of the Swatantra
Party,six members of the erstwhile Utkal Congress Party and the members of the
Independent Congress group was formed. The Pragati Party elected Biju Patnaik
as its leader and he became as the leader of the opposition. On 1st March 1973
when the Assembly was in session, the political situation took a sudden turn.
25 members of the Congress Party including two Cabinet Ministers defected from
the Congress and joined the Pragati Legislative Party. The Satpathy Ministry
resigned immediately after that and the State came under President's rule on
3rd March 1973. Elections to the 147-member state Assembly were held on
February 22 and February 24, 1974 in a favourable climate for the Congress. The
Congress fought the election in alliance with the CPI. Therefore the fight was
virtually restricted to the Congress and the Pragati combine of Utkal Congress,
Swatantra Party and Samjukta Socialist Party. The emergence of the Pragati
Party before 1974 elections was a significant development in the direction of
bipolarization of the party system in the State. Biju Patnaik's idea of an
all-India alternative was in fact realized in 1974 with the formation of
Bharatiya Lok Dal.In the years 1974 and 1975 India faced a political turmoil of
enormous proportions. Around this time the issue of corruption became the
biggest issue. Jaya Prakash Narayan's anticorruption movement was gradually
taking unshakable roots. Raj Narayan challenged Indira's victory on the ground
that she committed electoral malpractice. Mrs. Indira Gandhi's electoral
victory was soon giving place to Raj Narayan's court victory. With the judgment in hand the opposition gave her
two options; either to quite or face countrywide agitation. Indira Gandhi was
not so weak leader to abdicate
power by such provocations. A disillusioned Indira Gandhi became captive of
circumstances of her own making. There was no alternative, except turning to
the Constitution and Proclaiming National
Emergency.
On June, 25th 1975, President Fakiruddin Ali Ahmed signed a
proclamation declaring a state of
emergency in India on the ground of internal disturbances. Again on July
1st,1975, the President signed another ordinance amending the maintenance of
Internal Security Act (MISA)whereby the government could detain anyone it likes
without assigning the grounds. The tenure of Lok Sabha was extended for one
year. Many opposition leaders were put behind bars. At this Biju Patnaik and
other leaders went to Jagjivan Ram with a suggestion that if he could come out
from the Congress immediately they would support him. Biju Patnaik and Chandrasekhar spoke for the Janata
Party. Nandini Satapathy and K.R.Ganesh spoke for PI only after they had
finally checked up with their erstwhile comrades. Jagajivan Ram called his
supporters to reach Delhi. When many arrived Ram said that he was leaving the
Congress and he was going to
announce this in the Congress Election Committee. On January 29th Ram finally
decided to come out of the Party. The Jana Sangha, Bharatiya Lok Dal, Congress
(O), the Socialist Party, the Congress for Democracy and Bharatiya Lok Dal
merged together and named as the Janata Party. In Odisha, the Janata Party under the leadership of Biju
Patnaik fought the elections in alliance with Congress for Democracy (C.F.D.) and the CPI (M). It bagged 16 (Janata 14, C.F.D. 1, CPI (M)
1) of the 21 parliamentary seats. Congress Party got only 4. In the Elections
to the Odisha Legislative Assembly
the Janata Party led by Biju Patnaik swept the polls while the Congress was
completely routed. Out of 147 seats the Janata Party got 110 seats, Congress
26, CPI and CPI (M) one each and Independents nine. This was for the first time
in the history of Odisha that a
party under Biju won the election. The most remarkable feature of poll outcome
was re-emergence of Biju Patnaik as the undisputed leader of Odisha. With a
landslide victory of 110 seats a
Ministry was formed with Nilamani Routray, a close lieutenant of Biju Patnaik,
as the Chief Minister on 26 June, 1977. Biju Patnaik's Last Chance to fulfill
his Dreams Following the election debacle of the Congress (I) in the
Parliamentary elections of November 1989 at the national level in general and
State level in particular. Janaki Ballav Patnaik, who frustrated the efforts of
all his political rivals to remove him from the seat, owned the moral
responsibility for the failure of the party in elections and as such resigned from the position on
1st December, 1989. Mr.
Hemananda Biswal, a former critic, political rival of Janaki Ballav Patnaik and
former Minister of Janaki Ballav Patnaik's Cabinet became the leader of the
Congress Legislative Party and he took over as Odisha's Chief Minister on 5th
December, 1989.
The Janata Dal led combine under the leadership of Biju Patnaik
won a five-sixth majority, cornering 130 of the 147 seats with the Janata Dal
alone getting 123. Biju Patnaik had played the pivotal role in the formation of
National Front Government at the Centre and his contact with the Prime Minister V.P.Singh developed
his image in Odisha. Biju Patnaik's appeal to the people to give him a chance
at the fag end of the political
carrier to build up Odisha of his dream had magic impact on the people.
Waving of loans of small farmers up to 10,000/- also attracted the mass. The
Boffors deal of Rajiv Gandhi also had an impact on the people. With a
triumphant majority, Biju Patnaik returned as the Chief Minister of Odisha
after a long gap of 27 years. His comeback was acclaimed all over the State as
the emergence of an era of industrialization. The people of Odisha also
nurtured a hope of getting something from Biju Patnaik at the fag end of his
life. Before the election, Biju Patanaik was too in the asking of a "last
chance" to serve the people. Biju Patnaik had cherished a dream of
establishing a Second Steel Plant and empowering the women. During the Chief Ministership of Biju Patnaik,
the process of liberalization, privatization and globalisation, which was
started by the Centre assistance, was streamlined. More and more private
investors were attracted to invest in Odisha's market. He tried his best to
establish a second steel plant in Odisha and selected Daitari as the proper
place for the Second Steel Plant.
When Biju became the Union Steel
Minister during 1977, he tried to set up a shore based steel plant at Paradeep.
But things couldn't move ahead because Moraraji Desai's government fell half
way through its tenure. Biju's plan suffered a setback. When Biju Patnaik again
came to power in 1990 he was overconvinced that Odisha needs another Steel
Plant and it was time to give solid shape to the concept, which had failed to
take off. Biju always wanted to set up the plant in Paradeep because of the
exportability of the product. A South Korean Company Pohang Iron and Steel co. (POSCO) was asked to study
the feasibility of a port-based Steel Plant. The team of experts, however,
showed unwillingness to Paradeep. Paradeep had another disadvantages attached
to it. The Dredging Corporation of India in a report had said that to develop
Paradeep for a Steel Plant would take 15 years of time and an amount of 250
crores would be needed as development costs. Finally, Biju gave in and Daitari
was selected to be the right place for the second steel plant. The Kalinga Steel became the joint
venture of the Government run concern IPICOL and Jindal Strips Limited was to
set up the plant at Daitari. Before Jindals came the South Korean firm POSCO,
had tried but backed out on the question of the place where the plant should
come up. Although the investment of Jindals for a megaproject was totally
beyond their corporate capability, they invested 70 crores in another project
and finally they withdrew. After the oust of the Jindals, Biju Patnaik invited the
Tata's to come and set-up the Steel Plant. To entrap the Tata's Biju offered
many facilities. As all his efforts had gone into frivolous, he arrived in
London in November 1991 to fructify his dreams. He persuaded Swaraj Paul,
Chairman of the CAPARO group. Biju saw high hopes in Swaraj Paul. But his dream
of 3 million tonne steel project received a severe jolt when the Germany
unification came about in 1990. Without the help of congress Prime Minister
P.V. Narasimha Rao, it was difficult to get foreign financial assistance
directly for the Kalinga Steel Project. When he invited the South Korean Steel
making firm POHANG Company to become a major partner along with the Jindal
Strips, the Central Steel Minister accused him of violating the protocol by
approaching a foreign company at
his own. In the meanwhile the Narasimha Rao government at centre implemented
the new Indian economic policy. These were governed by the principles of liberalization,
privatization. Freedom to the entrepreneurs to establish any industry or trade
or business venture was encouraged. State
control, licenses, and permits system were also discouraged. For Biju
Patnaik this was a golden opportunity. Again he successfully motivated Swaraj Paul to shoulder the
responsibility of the Kalinga Steel. On 10th may, 1992 the Bhoomi Puja was held
at Jakhapura near Daitari with the
presence of Swaraj Paul, Biju Patnaik and the British High Commissioner
in India. Meanwhile the Union Cabinet cleared the establishment of a giant steel plant in Odisha. Swaraj
Paul was ready with the investment of money. But something happened in the
midst, when Swraj Paul wanted to
clarify that he was only an investor and not the principal promoter of the
project as envisaged. He also said that the CAPARO group is also an equity investor and not leader as far
as debt equity was concerned. Unless debt equity could be done at 3 is to 1
there was no way of proceeding with
the Project. When this
formation reached Biju's secretariat every thing seemed to be unsettling
for him. Finally, Swaraj Paul washed his hands off in the project. Three years
of protracted negotiations, years of wavering and gallons of hopes all were
dashed to the ground. A dream of
Biju Patnaik became unfulfilled. However during the second term of Chief
Ministership from March 5, 1990 to March 15, 1995 Panchayati Raj movement gained momentum under his
dynamic leadership. He took a revolutionary step to reserve 33 per cent of
seats for women in the three-tier of the Panchayati Raj system. As a mark of
his profound love for Panchayati Raj institution the people of Odisha observe
his Birth Day (March 5) as Panchayati Raj Divas.
The "son of the soil" breathed his last on 17th April 1997
at the age of eighty-one. The whole country was stunned and messages condoling
his death and eulogizing his contributions started pouring in from far
