Bhubaneswar: Apart from being the most successful and popular Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik also happens to be one of the few leaders in contemporary times in the country who have maintained a statesmanlike relationship with all other leaders be it the center or the other regional parties. Though his focus all these years has been on the development of the state, Naveen also played a crucial role in issues of national importance. All through these years Naveen has maintained equal distance from both the major political parties but lent support when the issues pertained to national importance. Maintaining equal distance, Naveen always kept best ties with the NDA and UPA governments at the Center. Naveen made it a point to highlight in national forums Odisha’s legitimate demands.
In the political echelons, with his charismatic character, Naveen is always seen as a leader most dependable. From his entry into national politics in 1997 till date, he has successfully presented the State’s agenda before the Center. He has always maintained cordial relationship with the national leaders and neighboring counterparts. The luncheon organised by the Chief Minister on the occasion of the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting held in Bhubaneswar shows how much priority he gave to his relationship with other leaders.
Naveen’s support on national issues, be it financials or relating to national security, had important ramifications. While he supported many national issues such as the GST and abrogation of Article 370, he also gave constructive opposition to issues such as the Farmers Bill. In 1012, Naveen supported the candidature of P A Sangma for the post of President of India and appealed all political parties to look beyond political considerations to elect the President of the country.
During his more than two decades of political journey, Naveen received a number of recognitions and awards which prove his mettle. He receive the Outlook Speak out Best Administrator award from former President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi in 2017. He also got the Ideal Chief Minister award from former President Smt. Pratibha Patil at Indian Students Parliament, Pune. He was felicitated by the United Nations (UN) for an effort to evacuate nearly a million people ahead of the tropical storm, Cyclone Phailin, that made a landfall on coastal Odisha in October 2013.
The country’s popular magazine India Today ranked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as the Most Popular Chief Minister of India on the basis of the India Today-ORG-Marg Mood of the Nation Poll. NDTV also ranked Naveen as the Second Best Performing Chief Minister.
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