Politics of Odisha

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.

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 plurality of seats, but failed to obtain a majority. A coalition government was formed by Nabakrushna Choudhury, with the support of 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. Later his image also 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:

• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - A national party. In the 2019 general elections, it won 0.6 percent of the votes and no seats.
• All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) - A regional party, with West Bengal as its headquarters. In the 2019 Odisha Vidhan Sabha elections, it won 0.4 percent of the vote and no seats.
• All India Jharkhand Party - A regional political party based in Jharkhand, with limited support in Odisha. In the 1971 elections, it won four assembly seats.
• All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) - A regional party, headed by Mamata Banerjee. In the 2019 Odisha Vidhan Sabha elections, it won 0.07% vote and no seats.
• Biju Janata Dal (BJD) - A regional offshoot of the Janata Dal party, headed by Naveen Patnaik and established in 1997. Leading the state government in successive elections, it won 44.71 percent of the vote and 112 seats in the 2019 elections, the party's chief minister's 24 years reign ended with the 2024 elections. The party also won 12 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - National party, led by Narendra Modi. A coalition partner of the BJD from 1997 to 2009, it has been in opposition till 2024 in the state assembly after which it became the ruling party. In the 2019 Vidhan Sabha election, the party won 32.5 percent of the vote and 23 seats. It also won eight seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
• Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) - A national party which won 0.82 percent of the vote and no seats in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections.
• Communist Party of India (CPI) - A regional party. In the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections, it won 0.12 percent of the vote and no seats.
• Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) - A national party, it won 0.3 percent of the vote and one seat in the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections.
• Indian National Congress (INC) - A national party which dominated state politics until 2000; since then, it has been in opposition. In the 2019 Vidhan Sabha elections, the INC won 16.12 percent of the vote and nine seats.
• Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) - A regional party in Jharkhand, influential in some areas of Odisha. Its best performance was in 2004, when it won four assembly seats and one parliamentary seat.
• Jharkhand Party (JKP) - Grew from support for a separate Jharkhand state, with limited support in Odisha. In the 1974 assembly elections, it won one seat.

Former political parties are:

• All India Ganatantra Parishad - Also known as the Ganatanra Parishad (GP), it was a regional party based in Odisha which was active from 1950 to 1962. Formed by former rulers of the princely states and large landlords, Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo was its president. In 1962, it merged with the Odisha branch of the Swatantra Party after the parliamentary elections. The party was the principal opposition twice, and was part of the coalition government in 1959.
• Swatantra Party - A classical liberal party, formed by C. Rajagopalachari in 1959. In the 1967 assembly elections, it won a plurality of the vote and formed a coalition government with Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo as chief minister and the Orissa Jana Congress as alliance partner. In subsequent assemblies, Swatantra was in opposition.
• Orissa Jana Congress - Formed in 1966 by former chief minister Harekrushna Mahatab after he left the Indian National Congress. After the 1967 elections, the Jana Congress participated in a coalition government with the Swatantra Party from 1967 to 1969. In the 1971 and 1974 elections the party won one seat, and merged into the Janata Party in 1977.
• Praja Socialist Party (PSP) - A national party formed by a merger of the Socialist Party (led by Jayprakash Narayan) and the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, led by J.B. Kripalani. In the 1957 assembly elections, it won 10 percent of the vote and 10 seats. Its best result was the 1967 elections, when it won 12 percent of the vote and 21 seats.
• Janata Party (JNP) - An amalgam of Indian parties opposed to the Emergency. In Odisha, the party formed a government in 1977 with Nilamani Routray as chief minister. The government lasted for two years, and fell when the Janata Party split up.
• Janata Dal - A national party formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lokdal, the Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha. In Odisha, the Janata Dal (led by Biju Patnaik) headed the state government from 1990 to 1995 and was the principal opposition from 1995 to 1997.
• Utkal Congress (UC) - Formed in 1969, when Biju Patnaik left the Indian National Congress. After the 1971 Odisha elections, UC won 33 seats and 23 percent of the vote. It was a partner in the Bishwanath Das-led coalition government. In 1974, the UC merged into Bharatiya Lok Dal.
• Odisha Gana Parishad (OGP)- A splinter group of the Biju Janata Dal, the party was founded on October 29, 2000, and led by Bijoy Mohapatra. In the 2004 elections, the OGP allied with the Indian National Congress. The party had four candidates for the state legislative assembly, two of whom were elected. In 2007, the OGP merged with the Nationalist Congress Party.

Chief ministers

This section is an excerpt from List of chief ministers of Odisha § List of Chief Minister of Odisha.[edit]

No	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Tenure			Assembly (election)	Party
1		Harekrushna Mahatab	East Bhadrak	26 January 1950	12 May 1950	107 days	2nd Pre-Independent (1946 election)	Indian National Congress
2		Nabakrushna Choudhuri	Barchana	12 May 1950	20 February 1952	6 years, 160 days
				20 February 1952	19 October 1956		1st (1952 election)
(1)		Harekrushna Mahatab	Soro	19 October 1956	25 February 1961	4 years, 129 days
				6 April 1957	25 February 1961		2nd (1957 election)
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	25 February 1961	23 June 1961	118 days		N/A
3		Biju Patnaik	Choudwar	23 June 1961	2 October 1963	2 years, 101 days	3rd (1961 election)	Indian National Congress
4		Biren Mitra	Cuttack City	2 October 1963	21 February 1965	1 year, 142 days
5		Sadashiva Tripathy	Omerkote	21 February 1965	8 March 1967	2 years, 15 days
6		Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo	Bolangir	8 March 1967	9 January 1971	3 years, 307 days	4th (1967 election)	Swatantra Party
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	11 January 1971	3 April 1971	83 days		N/A
7		Bishwanath Das	Rourkela	3 April 1971	14 June 1972	1 year, 72 days	5th (1971 election)	Independent
8		Nandini Satpathy	Cuttack	14 June 1972	3 March 1973	262 days		Indian National Congress
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	3 March 1973	6 March 1974	3 days		N/A
(8)		Nandini Satpathy	Dhenkanal	6 March 1974	16 December 1976	2 years, 285 days	6th (1974 election)	Indian National Congress
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	16 December 1976	29 December 1976	13 days		N/A
9		Binayak Acharya	Berhampur	29 December 1976	30 April 1977	122 days		Indian National Congress
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	30 April 1977	26 June 1977	57 days		N/A
10		Nilamani Routray	Basudevpur	26 June 1977	17 February 1980	2 years, 236 days	7th (1977 election)	Janata Party
–		Vacant (President's rule)	N/A	17 February 1980	9 June 1980	113 days		N/A
11		Janaki Ballabh Patnaik	Athagarh	9 June 1980	10 March 1985	9 years, 181 days	8th (1980 election)	Indian National Congress
				10 March 1985	7 December 1989		9th (1985 election)
12		Hemananda Biswal	Laikera	7 December 1989	5 March 1990	88 days
(3)		Biju Patnaik	Bhubaneswar	5 March 1990	15 March 1995	5 years, 10 days	10th (1990 election)	Janata Dal
(11)		Janaki Ballabh Patnaik	Begunia	15 March 1995	17 February 1999	3 years, 339 days	11th (1995 election)	Indian National Congress
13		Giridhar Gamang	Laxmipur	17 February 1999	6 December 1999	292 days
(12)		Hemananda Biswal	Laikera	6 December 1999	5 March 2000	90 days
14		Naveen Patnaik	Hinjili	5 March 2000	16 May 2004	24 years, 98 days	12th (2000 election)	Biju Janata Dal
				16 May 2004	21 May 2009		13th (2004 election)
				21 May 2009	21 May 2014		14th (2009 election)
				21 May 2014	29 May 2019		15th (2014 election)
				29 May 2019	12 June 2024		16th (2019 election)
15		Mohan Charan Majhi	Keonjhar	12 June 2024	Incumbent	164 days	17th (2024 election)	Bharatiya Janata Party

Elections

Main article: Elections in Odisha

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. 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. 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.