Rich tribute to Tall Man Biju Patnaik on 25th death anniversary

Bhubaneswar: Rich tributes were paid to the Tall Man of Odisha and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik across the State on his 25th death anniversary today.

Remembering contribution of his father to people’s development and welfare, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik offered a floral tribute to the legendary leader on the occasion on the premises of Odisha Assembly.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “A humble tribute to Biju Patnaik, the Bara Putra and People’s Leader of Odisha, on his death anniversary. The path he has shown has now made Odisha a leader in various fields of development. His principles and ideology will always inspire us to serve the people.”

ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ବରପୁତ୍ର ତଥା ମହାନ ଜନନାୟକ ବିଜୁ ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକଙ୍କ ତିରୋଧାନ ଦିବସରେ ବିନମ୍ର ଶ୍ରଦ୍ଧାଞ୍ଜଳି ଜଣାଉଛି। ସେ ଦେଖାଇ ଯାଇଥିବା ମାର୍ଗ ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାକୁ ବିକାଶର ବିଭିନ୍ନ କ୍ଷେତ୍ରରେ ଅଗ୍ରଣୀ କରିଛି। ତାଙ୍କ ନୀତି ଓ ଆଦର୍ଶ ସର୍ବଦା ଆମକୁ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ସେବା ପାଇଁ ଅନୁପ୍ରେରିତ କରିବ। pic.twitter.com/TKfjKjSkcd

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) April 17, 2022

Internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik built a sculpture at Puri sea beach remembering the legend on his 25th death anniversary.

Tribute to The Legend #TallMan#BijuPatnaik , An architect of Modern Odisha ,Son of Soil,Statesman,freedom fighter and former Chief Minister of Odisha on his death anniversary. One of my SandArt at puri beach. pic.twitter.com/MIjm6sWpW1

— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) April 17, 2022

Biju Patnaik, fondly called as ‘Biju Babu’, was a great political leader and reformer of Odisha. He had passed away on April 17, 1997.

As an ace pilot, he was flying Dakota (VT-AUI) aircraft belonging to the erstwhile Kalinga Airlines that was founded by him. He scripted a history when he rescued former Indonesia Vice-President and then Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir from the Dutch military back in 1947 using the aircraft.

Apart from a pilot, he was a strong political leader with vision for development. His strong advocacy for equal resources to all States in India had made him a champion in politics. He served people as the Chief Minister of Odisha and member of Lok Sabha.

Biju Babu was elected uncontested to Odisha Legislative Assembly  in 1946 from North Cuttack Constituency. In 1952 and 1957, he won from Jagannathprasad and Surada respectively in Ganjam district. In 1977, he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Kendrapara and served the country as the Union Minister for Steel and Mines in Morarji Desai and Charan Singh governments until 1979. He was re-elected to the lower house in 1980 and 1984 from Kendrapara as Janata Party candidate.