BJP nominates Sisir Mishra against Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik for 2024 polls

Bhubaneswar: With the BJD and BJP have started announcing their candidates for the ensuing Assembly polls in Odisha, Hinjili, the Assembly seat in Ganjam district currently being represented by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, remained everyone’s focus amongst all the constituencies.

While Naveen Patnaik, who is the five-time MLA in Odisha, is all set to fight from Hinjili in the forthcoming elections for ‘all-time record’ in Indian politics, the BJP has projected its state executive member Sisir Mishra as its candidate against the BJD Supremo.

If the BJD returns to power in the Assembly polls, Naveen Patnaik will become the longest-serving Chief Minister in the country, surpassing the record of Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim.

Last year in July, Patnaik became the second longest-serving CM in India with a tenure of 23 years and 139 days, surpassing the record of former West Bengal Chief Minister late Jyoti Basu.

Often called as an accidental politician after death of his father late Biju Patnaik, the alumnus of Doon School and St Stephen’s, Naveen Patnaik was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Aska in 1997. Later, he broke away from the Janata Dal and floated the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha. In 1998, the BJD allied with the BJP and he became the Steel and Mines Minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government at the Centre.

The 1999 Super Cyclone that battered the state gave him a chance to serve the state. He chose to contest the Assembly polls in 2000 as the MLA candidate from Hinjili and won the seat receiving 56243 votes. He retained the seat in subsequent Assembly polls in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019.