Bhubaneswar: Remembering the former Chief Minister of Odisha late Biju Patnaik on his 104th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thursday, paid tribute to the leader by tweeting a page from history which gives a glimpse into the statesman’s courage and excellence.
“Remembering Biju Babu on his Jayanti. This document from the pages of history (dated 1945) gives a glimpse of his courage (flying Dr. Lohia, who was then underground) and excellence. Biju Babu worked tirelessly for India’s progress and pioneered the development of Odisha (sic),” Modi tweeted sharing a document of Intelligence Bureau (IB) dated August 29, 1945.
The letter of the Intelligence Bureau (Home Department) talks about Biju Babu misusing his position as a pilot to surreptitiously fly Ram Monohar Lohia (who was then underground) from Delhi to the erstwhile Calcutta.
“It may be argued that Patnaik may still be a danger so long as conditions on our Eastern Border do not return to normal – but that would be to state a very hypothetical risk,” read the letter. Governor Ganeshi Lal also remembered the legendary statesman and maker of modern Odisha on this day and hailed him as an inspiration to all.
Visiting Biju Babu’s ancestral house Anand Bhawan in Cuttack, the Governor termed the former Chief Minister of Odisha as phenomenal, intellectual, spiritual and adventurous who had the guts to help the Russian and to help Indonesia by lifting their Prime Minister to a safer place at the behest of the then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too paid floral tribute to the legendary leader here at BJD party office and State Assembly premises. He also inaugurated a blood donation camp at the BJD office on this occasion. Naveen also attended several functions organised in the memory of Biju Babu in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Assembly Speaker Surya Narayan Patro, Deputy Speaker Rajanikant Singh, Ministers, BJD leaders, offered floral tributes to the Tall Man’s statue on Assembly premises. A function was organised at the Balijatra Ground in Cuttack where Naveen addressed a huge gathering.
In the morning a mini marathon was also organised in the city among all category of people. Addressing a gathering, Naveen said, Biju Babu had struggled for people in his entire life. Though he was not in power for a big period, he was with the people for life long and always worked for the development of Odia people, the Chief Minister said.
Biju Babu wanted to bring transformational changes in the life of Odia people and state government’s 5T programme is the biggest tribute for him, stated Patnaik.