Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday said the people of the state are going to create a new record in the political history of the country in the next Assembly elections.
Patnaik, the ruling BJD president, apparently meant that after winning the Assembly polls to be held between May 13 and June 1, he would become the longest-serving chief minister of India.
The Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in the state.
“In a few months, the people of Odisha are going to create a new record in the political history of this country. I always feel profoundly blessed and humbled by the intense faith of the people which also inspires me to work harder,” Patnaik said while addressing the last cabinet meeting of his fifth term in office.
The BJD president is now the second longest-serving chief minister in India after former Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling, who remained in power for 24 years and 166 days from December 12, 1999, to May 27, 2019. Patnaik, on the other hand, has been at the helm of Odisha since March 5, 2000.
“We will usher in Odisha with secure roots and powerful wings. With all your blessings, the Juggernaut will roll on,” Patnaik said.
Noting that the next 10 years will be decisive for Odisha’s future, Patnaik said, “We will herald an empowered Odisha – modern, dynamic and responsive – primarily for our youths, women and children, entrepreneurs farmers and tribals.“
In his last speech to the Cabinet, Patnaik said he took oath as CM for the 5th time on May 29, 2019. On that day, he convened the first Cabinet after the elections where the ruling BJD’s manifesto was approved as the government’s priority.
“Today as we sit for the last Cabinet of this term, I express my gratitude to the people of Odisha for repeatedly reposing their faith in us. I feel blessed to have been chosen to serve the four-and-a-half crore people of Odisha,” he said.
Patnaik also recalled how his first term started in the backdrop of a devastated cyclone and the government’s empty coffer. Even before he started this term in 2019, he remembered how Odisha faced a rare summer cyclone, the first in 43 years.
Cyclone Fani, an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm, “caused extensive damage to the nerve centre of our economy including Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Thanks to our dedicated and diligent community-based disaster management systems, we faced the cyclone courageously and our relief measures started immediately after the cyclone storm passed,” he pointed out.
Even leading newspapers of the USA praised Odisha as a model in disaster management, he said.
“Our resilient people bounced back and within a few months, there were no signs of the cyclone’s devastation,” the chief minister said.
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, the state was comparatively well prepared and emerged as a model in Covid Management, as per a study by John Hopkins University, he said.
“We not only ensured one of the lowest mortality rates in the country, but also saved millions of lives across India by supplying oxygen. We were the only state which provided free quality health care from testing to treatment for every citizen, in partnership with the private hospitals,” the chief minister said.
“The future of Odisha is bright. We are going to celebrate the centenary of Odisha state in 2036 and by then we want it to be number one in the country in every field,” Patnaik said.
He said the state’s entire focus will be towards providing the best educational and employment opportunities to aspiring youth and empowering them to achieve their dreams.
The youth of the state will build a new Odisha, the BJD president said.
PTI
