• Odisha’s Naveen Patnaik became the second longest serving chief minister in the country, replacing West Bengal’s Jyoti Basu.

• Patnaik, the five-time chief minister of Odisha, took charge on March 5, 2000, and holds the post for 23 years and 138 days.

• Basu served as the chief minister of West Bengal from June 21, 1977 to November 5, 2000, which was 23 years and 137 days.

• Former Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling still holds the record of being the longest serving CM in the country. He was the CM of Sikkim from December 12, 1994 till May 27, 2019 — more than 24 years.

• Patnaik is also the third leader after Chamling and Basu to become the chief minister of a state for five consecutive times. 

The legacy of Patnaik

• Naveen Patnaik was born on October 16, 1946 in Cuttack.

• His father Biju Patnaik was former chief minister of Odisha.

• Following his father’s death in 1997, Naveen Patnaik contested from his father’s seat,  Aska Parliamentary Constituency. The victory was a turning point in his life.

• Naveen Patnaik has been in power since 1998 February, first as Union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet and then as the chief minister since March 2000.

• He broke away from Janata Dal to form a regional party named after his father — Biju Janata Dal.

• The party went on to win all the general elections in the state, first in alliance with BJP, and later on its own since 2009.

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