Naveen Patnaik goes past Jyoti Basu to become second-longest serving CM of an Indian state

Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, is now the second-longest serving chief minister of a state in India having served a period of 23 years and 139 days. Patnaik replaces former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu as the second-longest serving CM. Naveen Patnaik, 76, has been Chief Minister of Odisha for a straight five terms, occupying the chair for the first time on May 5, 2000. Jyoti Basu was the Chief Minister of West Bengal from June 21, 1977 to November 5, 2000.   

While Patnaik is the second-longest serving CM, the record for the longest serving chief minister still lies with Pawan Kumar Chamling. Chamling was the chief minister of Sikkim from December 12, 1994 to May 26, 2019 -- 24 years 5 months 14 days. 

Naveen Patnaik is only the third chief minister to serve five consecutive terms. If the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader contests and wins polls again in 2024 and serves a full term, he will become the longest-serving chief minister of any state in India.

Marking the occasion on Monday, BJP Vice-President Prasanna Acharya praised Patnaik for the feat and said: "We are happy that our chief minister has crossed the record of West Bengal’s former CM Jyoti Basu. I am sure that Patnaik will break all the records of the past, and will emerge as the longest-serving CM.”    

“We congratulate Naveen Patnaik for becoming the second-longest-serving CM, but we are pained that Patnaik is not doing anything during his term,” said Congress leader SS Saluja. 

"History will not remember how long one serves as the chief minister, but how one creates history within a short span of time", said senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari.

Naveen Patnaik began his journey in politics in 1997 after demise of his father Biju Patnaik. He constituted a new party on 26 December 1997 in the name of his father. 

He served as the Union Minister of Steel and Mines from 1998 to 2000 and was also a member of the Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Aska from 1997 to 2000.

(With inputs from agencies)