Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of the State of
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
.
Early life
His parents lived in
Bellaguntha,
Ganjam district, around 80 km from
Bramhapur. He was educated at
Ravenshaw College in Odisha but, due to his interest in aviation, dropped out and trained as a pilot. Patnaik flew with private airlines but at the start of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
he joined the
Royal Indian Air Force
The Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) was the aerial force of British India and later the Dominion of India. Along with the Indian Army, and Royal Indian Navy, it was one of the Armed Forces of British Indian Empire.
The Indian Air Force was offi ...
. He eventually became the head of air transport command. While in service, he developed an interest in nationalist politics and used air force transports to deliver what was seen as subversive literature to Indian troops. He was jailed by the British for dropping political leaflets to Indian soldiers fighting under British command in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and flying clandestine missions that carried Congress Party leaders from hideouts across India to secret meetings that charted the independence struggle. However Patnaik remained committed to fighting the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
.
Role in Indonesian freedom struggle
Biju Patnaik met with
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
during his participation in
Indonesian freedom struggle and became one of his trusted friends. Nehru viewed the freedom struggle of the Indonesian people as parallel to that of India, and viewed Indonesia as a potential ally. When the Dutch attempted to quell Indonesian independence on 21 July 1947, President
Sukarno ordered
Sjahrir, the former prime minister of Indonesia, to leave the country to attend the first Inter-Asia Conference, organised by Nehru, in July 1947 and to foment international public opinion against the Dutch. Sjahrir was unable to leave as the Dutch controlled the Indonesian sea and air routes. Nehru asked Biju Patnaik, who was adventurous and an expert pilot, to rescue Sjahrir and other Indonesian resistance fighters who were fighting their Dutch colonisers. Biju Patnaik and his wife Gyanwati, flew to
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, dodging the Dutch guns, he entered Indonesian airspace and landed on an improvised airstrip near Jakarta. Using left-over fuel from abandoned Japanese military dumps, Patnaik took off with prominent rebels, including Sultan Sjahrir and Achmad Sukarno, for a secret meeting with Nehru at New Delhi and brought out on a
Douglas C-47
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...
(Dakota) military aircraft reaching India via
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
on 24 July 1947. For this act of bravery, Patnaik was given honorary citizenship in Indonesia and awarded the 'Bhoomi Putra', the highest Indonesian award, rarely granted to a foreigner. In 1995, when Indonesia was celebrating its 50th Independence Day, Biju Patnaik was awarded the highest national award, the ''
Bintang Jasa Utama''.
In 2015, Sukarno's daughter
Megawati Sukarnoputri recounted how it was Patnaik who suggested she be named Meghavati or "daughter of clouds". She, whose full name is Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri, later became Indonesia's first female president, serving
from 2001 to 2004.
In 2021, the Indonesian Embassy in New Delhi designated a room on the name of Biju Patnaik. On the walls of the Biju Patnaik room are photographs, newspaper clippings and letters that document Mr. Patnaik's secret assignments to fly out Indonesian leaders, as well as his relations with the Indonesian leadership.
Landing with DC-3
Biju Patnaik flew many sorties on his Dakota
DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
from Delhi
Safdarjung Airport
Safdarjung Airport is an airport in New Delhi, India, in the Safdarjung (Delhi), neighbourhood of the same name. Established during the British Raj as Willingdon Airfield, it started operations as an aerodrome in 1929, when it was India's secon ...
on 27 October 1947, after the first Dakota DC-3 (Reg. No: VP 905) flown by Wg. Cdr. KL Bhatia landed in
Srinagar Airport early morning. He brought 17 soldiers of 1-Sikh regiment commanded by Lt. Col. Dewan Ranjit Rai. He flew low on the airstrip twice to ensure that no raiders were around. Instructions from Prime Minister Nehru's office were clear: If the airport was taken over by the enemy, he was not to land. Taking a full circle the
DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
flew ground level. Anxious eyeballs peered from inside the aircraft – only to find the airstrip empty. Nary a soul was in sight. The raiders were busy distributing the spoils of war amongst them in Baramulla.
Politics in independent India
Patnaik's political ideals were centered in socialism and
federalism. His strong advocacy for equal resources to all Indian states who needed such, made him a champion of his Odia constituents.
In 1946 Patnaik was elected uncontested to the
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
Legislative Assembly from North
Cuttack
Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...
constituency. In 1952 and 1957 he won from
Jagannathprasad and
Surada, respectively. In 1960 he assumed the presidency of the state Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress Party won 82 of 140 seats and Patnaik (representing Chowdwar constituency) became the chief minister of Odisha on 23 June 1961 and remained in the position until 2 October 1963 when he resigned from the post under the
Kamaraj Plan to revitalise the Congress party. He was the Chief Minister of Odisha at the age of 45.
Patnaik was close to Indira Gandhi who took over the Congress Party in 1967. However, they clashed in 1969 over the Presidential election. He left the Congress and formed a regional party—the
Utkal Congress
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 Co ...
. In the 1971 assembly poll, his party did reasonably well. Patnaik then re-established contact with his old friend Jayaprakash Narayan and plunged into the JP movement as it picked up momentum in 1974. When the Emergency was declared in 1975, Biju Patnaik was one of the first to be arrested along with other opposition leaders.
He was released in 1977. Later, in the same year, he was elected to the
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...
for the first time from
Kendrapara
Kendrapara is a Town and a municipality in the Kendrapara district of the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of Kendrapara district.
Geography
Kendrapara is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is surrounded by Bhadrak, ...
and became Union minister for steel and mines in both the
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the 4th Prime Minister of India between 1977 to 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his ...
and the
Charan Singh governments until 1979. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha again in 1980 and 1984 from
Kendrapara
Kendrapara is a Town and a municipality in the Kendrapara district of the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of Kendrapara district.
Geography
Kendrapara is located at . It has an average elevation of . It is surrounded by Bhadrak, ...
as
Janata Party
The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
candidate despite the Congress wave in 1984 following
Indira Gandhi's death. With the Congress defeat in 1989, he bounced back into the political limelight. However, after playing a key behind-the-scenes role in manoeuvring
V. P. Singh to the Prime Minister's post, he again chose to go back to Odisha, and prepared for the assembly election. In 1990 state assembly election, the
Janata Dal
Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 October 1988 on the birth annive ...
received a thumping majority (two-thirds of the assembly seats) which saw Biju Patnaik being the
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
for the second time until 1995.
Patnaik was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 from Cuttack and
Aska constituencies as a Janata Dal candidate. He retained the latter until his death on 17 April 1997 of cardio-respiratory failure.
In 1992,
Bijayananda Patnaik
Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and businessman. As politician, he served twice as the Chief Minister of the State of Odisha.
Early life
His parents lived in Bellaguntha, Ganjam dist ...
left this quote for the people of Odisha;
"In my dream of the 21st century for the State, I would have young men and women who put the interest of the State before them. They will have pride in themselves, confidence in themselves. They will not be at anybody's mercy, except their own selves. By their brains, intelligence and capacity, they will recapture the history of
Kalinga Kalinga may refer to:
Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology
* Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India
** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature
** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...
."
Achievements as a public representative
Biju Patnaik set up Kalinga tubes,
Kalinga Airlines
Kalinga Airlines was a private airline based in Calcutta, India. It was founded in 1947 by aviator and politician Biju Patnaik, who was also the airline's chief pilot. The airline was nationalised and merged into Indian Airlines in 1953. It res ...
, Kalinga Iron work, Kalinga Refractories and the Kalinga, a daily Oriya newspaper. In 1951 he established the international
Kalinga Prize
The Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science is an award given by UNESCO for exceptional skill in presenting scientific ideas to lay people. It was created in 1952, following a donation from Biju Patnaik, Founder President of the Kalinga ...
for popularisation of Science and Technology among the people and entrusted the responsibility to the UNESCO. The projects which he was known to have spearheaded includes the
Port of Paradip,
Orissa aviation centre,
Bhubaneswar Airport, the Cuttack-Jagatpur Mahanadi highway bridge,
Regional Engineering College, Rourkela
National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela or NITRKL or NITR), formerly Regional Engineering College Rourkela is a publicly funded institute of higher learning for engineering, science and technology located in the steel city of R ...
,
Sainik School Bhubaneswar,
Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology-
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
,
NALCO (National Aluminum Company),
Talcher Thermal Power Station,
Balimela Hydel Project,
HAL-
Sunabeda
Sunabeda is an industrial town and a municipality in the state of Odisha, India, located in the valleys of the Koraput region. The Engine division and Sukhoi division of the aircraft manufacturing company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), ...
and the
Choudwar &
Barbil industrial belts.
He also established the
Kalinga Cup in
football.
Family
Biju Patnaik was married to Gyan Patnaik, who belonged to Punjab, due to which he is known as a son-in-law of Punjab as well. Just like Biju his wife too was a pilot. In fact, she was the first Indian lady to get a commercial pilot's license. In the 1940s, Gyan Patnaik accompanied Biju in the freedom struggle movement and evacuation of British families from Rangoon when the Japanese laid siege on the region.
Biju Patnaik's younger son,
Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...
, is the current Chief Minister of Odisha. His daughter,
Gita Mehta, is an English writer. His elder son Prem Patnaik is a
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
-based industrialist.
Commemoration
The Government of Odisha has named several institutions after the name of Biju Patanaik. They include the
Biju Patnaik Airport at
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
, the
Biju Patnaik University of Technology
Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) is a public state university located in Rourkela, Odisha, India. It was established on 21 November 2002 and was named after Biju Patnaik, the former Chief Minister of Odisha.
History
It came into be ...
Biju Patnaik Stadiumat Nalco Nagar,
Angul etc. Also his son
Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...
made his birthday 5 March as the Panchayat Raj Divas, a holiday in Odisha in his memory. The Biju Patnaik 5 Rupee commemorative coin was released in 2016. The glimpse of Biju Patnaik's stature can be understood by the fact that when he died, his coffin was wrapped in the national flags of India, Russia, and Indonesia.
Personal life
An avid
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
player, Patnaik was the father of author
Gita Mehta, Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik
Naveen Patnaik (born 16 October 1946) is an Indian politician serving as the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer and has authored three books. He is the longest-serving chief min ...
and Prem Patnaik.
Legislative history
See also
*
List of Chief Ministers of Odisha
The chief minister of Odisha, an Indian state, is the head of the Government of Odisha. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Followi ...
*
Biju Sena
Biju Sena is a front group of the political party Biju Janata Dal in the state of Odisha, India. Biju Sena was formed by followers of Biju Patnaik
Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician, aviator and bus ...
References
External links
New York Times article on Biju PatnaikBiju Patnaik: The Vision of a PatriotTribute to Patnaik
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patnaik, Biju
1916 births
1997 deaths
Chief Ministers of Odisha
Indian independence activists from Odisha
Brahmos
India MPs 1977–1979
India MPs 1980–1984
India MPs 1984–1989
India MPs 1996–1997
Utkal Congress politicians
Members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly
V. P. Singh administration
Indian aviators
Lok Sabha members from Odisha
Rajya Sabha members from Odisha
People from Ganjam district
People from Kendrapara district
Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India)
Leaders of the Opposition in Odisha
Chief ministers from Indian National Congress
Chief ministers from Janata Dal
Janata Dal politicians
Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha
Janata Party politicians
People from Cuttack
Janata Party (Secular) politicians
Orissa MLAs 1961–1967