Biju Patnaik

Bijayananda Patnaik is sometimes referred to as Biju Patnaik.

He was a politician as well as an aviation engineer, navigator, industrialist, expert pilot, much-liked freedom fighter, and most importantly, a well-known and exceptional personality.

He had a heroic personality and became famous and well-known only by his own hard work. Napoleon was a role model for him, thus he followed in his footsteps. Biju Patnaik was skilled at motivating and winning over his employees.

Brief Profile

• Bijayananda Patnaik was born on March 5, 1916.
• Bijayananda Patnaik often known as Biju Patnaik,
• In 1936, he joined the Royal Indian Air Force and was an ace pilot.
• He served as Odisha's chief minister twice.

Biju Patnaik Short Biography

Biju Patnaik, a brave aviator, nationalist, and politician, twice held the position of third Chief Minister of the state of Odisha. He had a brave attitude and rose to prominence and notoriety via his struggles.

The birthdate of Biju Patnaik is March 5, 1916. at Cuttack, Odisha, he was born at the home of his parents, Lakshminarayan and Ashalata Patnaik. His exploits as an aviator in the fight for freedom against British colonialism persisted for a very long time.

For his incalculable contributions to India's freedom, Biju Patnaik was widely praised. The Odisha government has given his name to a number of institutions, including the Biju Patnaik Stadium in Nalco Nagar, Angul, the Biju Patnaik University of Technology, and the Bhubaneshwar Airport.

In honour of his memory, his son Naveen Patnaik declared his father's birthday to be the Panchayat Raj Diwas, an official holiday in Odisha. His stamp was released by the Indian Postal Department as a mark of respect in his honour. The Biju Patnaik commemorative five rupee coin was also released by the Indian government later that year.

Due to his valour and audacious action he was also awarded the highest civilian medal, the "Bhumi Putra," by the Indonesian government in 1996. At the Bhubaneshwar Airport, a bronze monument of Biju Patnaik measuring 18 feet tall has been erected.

Biju Patnaik Personal Life

Biju Patnaik was blessed with three kids?two sons and a girl?after exchanging vows with Gyan Patnaik. The position of Chief Minister of Odisha is presently held by his younger son Naveen Patnaik, who continued in his father's footsteps.

Prem Patnaik, his first child, is a businessman who has his headquarters in Delhi. His father's daughter Geeta Mehta was a successful English author who wrote on India's westernisation.

Mission Primary School and Mission Christ Collegiate School in Cuttack, Odisha, are where Biju had his primary education. In 1932, he registered for an intermediate science class at Ravenshaw College. He served as the university's football, hockey, athletics, and cricket teams' head coach for three years. He was a dedicated athlete. Later, he applied to the Aeronautical Training Institute of India, where he studied to become a pilot.

Contribution Towards Industrial Sector

In the decades after independence, Patnaik began building an industrial oligarchy in Odisha, a state with a poor economy. "People cannot grow unless the industries were developed and established here," Patnaik declared on June 15, 1962, at the opening of the Orissa Planning Board.

In addition to iron ore and manganese mines, he assisted in the establishment of textile factories. In addition, Patnaik played a crucial part in the creation of Rourkela Steel factory, India's first integrated steel factory in the public sector, and utilised his political influence to create Paradip Port, one of the most important maritime gateways.

Bharat Ratna Demanded by the State's Voice

The two pillars of Sri Biju Patnaik's philosophy were socialism and federalism. He fervently supported equitable resources for all Indian states in the genuine federalist sense. He was a fantastic illustration of a real statesman. He consistently shown courage for the sake of the nation. In addition to being a bureaucrat and important political figure in India, he made several additional contributions to the advancement of the nation as an aviator during the struggle for independence.

Odisha's Development

The growth of the state of Odisha was significantly influenced by Biju Patnaik. He is known for the creation of the Paradeep Port, the Talcher Thermal Plant, the Sainik School and Regional College of Education in Bhubaneswar, the MIG factory in Sunabeda, the Engineering College in Rourkela, the Balimela Hydel Project, the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in Bhubaneswar, and the Express Highway that connects the iron ore deposits of Sukinda and Paradeep.

Family

Biju Patnaik is referred to as a son-in-law of Punjab as a result of his marriage to Gyan Patnaik, a member of the Punjabi community. Like Biju, his wife also worked as a pilot. She really obtained her commercial pilot's licence first among Indian women. Gyan Patnaik assisted Biju in the 1940s during the campaign for freedom and the evacuation of British families from Rangoon when the Japanese besieged the city.

Politics

Patnaik was chosen without opposition from the North Cuttack seat to serve in the Odisha Legislative Assembly in 1946. He defeated Jagannath Prasad in 1952 and Surada in 1957 to win. He took up the role of state Congress president in 1961. Under his direction, the Congress Party won 82 out of 140 seats, and Patnaik (representing the Chowdwar constituency) was elected chief minister of Odisha. He held the office until 2 October 1963, when he resigned in accordance with the Kamaraj Plan to revive the Congress party. At the age of forty-five, he served as the Chief Minister of Odisha.

Indira Gandhi, who gained control of the Congress Party in 1967, was close to Patnaik. They did, however, disagree in 1969 about the presidential election. In place of the Congress, he founded the Utkal Congress, a local political party. His party performed admirably in the 1971 assembly election.

After getting back in touch with his old buddy Jayaprakash Narayan, Patnaik joined the JP movement when it gained pace in 1974. In 1975, when the Emergency was proclaimed, Biju Patnaik and other opposition leaders were among the first people detained. After being set free in 1977, he represented Kendrapara in the Lok Sabha, and from 1977 to 1979, under the leadership of Morarji Desai and Choudhary Charan Singh, he served as the Union Minister for Steel and Mines.

In 1980, Biju was initially chosen to serve in the Lok Sabha, and in 1996, he was once again chosen. From 1990 until 1995, Biju Patnaik served as the state of Odisha's chief minister after the Janata Dal won the state assembly election.

Socialism and federalism were at the core of Patnaik's political beliefs. In the real spirit of federalism, he fervently supported providing equal resources to all Indian states that required them. Patnaik was lovingly referred to as "India's buccaneer" by Nehru. Biju Patnaik has the boldness, dynamism, and passion to work, according to Nehru, who spoke of him while he was a member of the Indian Parliament. Giving Odisha extra help is thus not a mistake.

Facts about Biju Paitnaik that no one knows

• Although his parents' house is in Bellaguntha, Ganjam, Biju Patnaik was born there on March 5, 1916. Named Bijayananda Patnaik, he was. He mixed Bengali and Odia ancestry. Lakshminarayan, his father, was an Odia, whereas Biju Patnaik's mother Ashalata Devi was a Bengali.
  
  • Sports and bridge were two of Biju Patnaik's passions. He had a reputation for enjoying games, athletics, and adventure while attending Ravenshaw Collegiate School. His college football team was the inter-school champion for three years, and he was a crucial member of the squad.
  • He left Ravenshaw College and began training as a pilot because of his passion for aviation. He was the commander of air transport command and had enrolled as a student pilot in the Royal Air Force of the British Empire.
• Biju Babu enjoyed riding his bike and was frequently spotted doing so to get to the State Secretariat. In 1932, he and two of his companions, Amar and Bhramarbar, set off on an exciting bicycle trip from Cuttack, Odisha, to Peshawar, Pakistan, covering a distance of 4,500 miles in an effort to spread the word about humanity.
  
  • He married Gyan, a Lahori Punjabi, in 1938. To attend the wedding, he flew the groom's party to Lahore. Megawati, which means "goddess of clouds," is the name given to the child of Indonesian President Sukarna by her parents.
• The legendary commander was a key figure in India's campaign for independence, and he allowed rebels to seek refuge there in order to avoid capture. His Delhi home was actually known as "Absconder's Paradise." At one point, Aruna Asaf Ali sought refuge at Cuttack's Ananda Bhawan.
  
  • Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ordered Biju Babu and his wife Gyan to fly to Java and rescue former Indonesian Prime Minister Sultan Sjahrir from the Dutch. On July 24, 1947, he transported Sultan Sjahrir aboard a Dakota and travelled to India through Singapore. Biju Patnaik received the highest Indonesian honour, the Bhoomi Putra, which is rarely bestowed to foreigners, in recognition of his courage. Biju Patnaik received the highest national honour, the "Bintang Jasa Utama," in 1996, the year Indonesia celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence.
• For his action in rescuing certain British families who had been held captive by the Japanese during World War II, Biju Patnaik received honours from British authorities. He was, however, given a two-year prison sentence by the British in 1943 for flying freedom fighters to covert locations. Awarded by the Russians for his service, he also assisted the Soviet Army in its struggle against Hitler during World War II.
  
  
  • Chief Minister Biju Patnaik served in that position for just seven years overall despite winning election twice. As a leader of the opposition, he was among the first to be taken into custody during the 1975 Emergency. In 1977, he was let go.
  • Biju Patnaik preferred a sudden sickness over a protracted death in an aircraft crash. He once remarked: "I would like to pass away right away, just fall over and die." But it was at the Delhi house of the then-Union Minister Dilip Ray that he passed away, not at Naveen Niwas in Bhubaneswar.

Role in Freedom Struggle

• In 1942, Biju Patnaik began his quest for independence. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, he joined the Quit India Movement to liberate India.
• Along with Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Jay Prakash Narayan, he participated in the Quit India Movement and rose to prominence as a Congress politician.
• For his involvement in the Quit India Movement, he was imprisoned for almost two years in 1943.
• He boldly performed clandestine operations, escorting liberation fighters to private gatherings with their supporters, and even dropping pamphlets from the air in favor of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army.
• As a pilot in the Indian Air Force, he was a key player in both the Kashmir War of 1948 and World War II.

Role in Kashmir Integration

• On October 27, 1947, following the tribal assault from Pakistan in Kashmir, Biju Patnaik bravely piloted a DC-3 transport plane to Srinagar carrying soldiers from the Sikh army.

Role in Indonesian Freedom Struggle

• Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru asked Biju Patnaik to fly to Java and bring Sultan Sjahrir out of the Dutch-controlled region of Indonesia so they could meet in Delhi.
• He received honorary citizenship in Indonesia for his bravery and the "Bhoomi Putra," the highest honour offered in Indonesia, which is rarely bestowed to a foreigner.
• The Bintang Jasa Utma, the highest national honor given in Indonesia, was given to Biju Patnaik in 1996.

Death

On April 17, 1997, Biju Patnaik died from a cardio-respiratory condition.

Conclusion

Biju Patnaik passed away on April 17, 1997. He was one of the political figures who successfully planted the seeds of political consciousness in Odisha. He was one of Odisha's greatest builders. He was tenacious, energetic, and passionate about working for Odisha.

He was also adamantly against corruption. He once instructed people to beat up corrupt officials to fight corruption. He continues to have a particular place in the hearts of the Odia people as the "Kharavela of Kalinga" and the "Hero of Kalinga." He has made unprecedented contributions to several different fields. Always remembered will be him.