The Biju Janata Dal (transl. Biju People’s Party; abbr. BJD) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Odisha founded and led by Naveen Patnaik, the current Chief Minister of Odisha and the son of former Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik, after whom the party is named. It was founded on 26 December 1997.
Electoral record
The BJD won nine seats in the 1998 general election and Naveen was named Minister for Mines. In the 1999 general elections, the BJD won 10 seats. The party won a majority of seats in the Odisha Legislative Assembly in the 2000 and 2004 elections in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJD won 11 Lok Sabha seats in the 2004 elections. In the aftermath of the 2008 Kandhamal riots, the BJD parted ways with the BJP in both the Lok Sabha and Assembly in the 2009 general election, citing communalism and differences in seat sharing. During the election, BJD won 14 seats and secured a strong 108 legislative seats out of 147 seats in the 2009 Odisha legislative elections. Biju Janata Dal won a huge victory in the 2014 general election, securing 20 of the 21 Odishan Lok Sabha seats and 117 of the 147 Odisha Legislative Assembly seats. They were re-elected to power in Odisha in 2019, winning 112 of the 147 seats in the Odisha state assembly; however, their seats in the Lok Sabha were reduced to 12.
Rule
Naveen Patnaik stepped down as Minister of Mines and left the Lok Sabha after the BJD-BJP victory in the Legislative Assembly Elections in 2000 and became the Chief Minister of Odisha. Naveen Patnaik won his second, third, fourth, and fifth terms as Chief Minister of Odisha in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019 state elections respectively.
Leadership
The highest decision-making body of the party is its Core Committee.
- Naveen Patnaik – Founder, National Chairperson, Leader of the party in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
- Pinaki Misra – Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha
- Prasanna Acharya – Leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha
- Bhartruhari Mahtab – Member in the Lok Sabha
- Niranjan Pujari – Minister of Finance, Excise in Government of Odisha
- Pranab Prakash Das – General Secretary (Organisation)
- Sanjay Das Burma – General Secretary (headquarters)
- Amaresh Patri – Biju Yuba Janata Dal
Electoral Performances
Lok Sabha (Lower House)
| Lok Sabha Term | Indian General Election |
Seats contested |
Seats won |
Seats Change |
votes | % of votes | State (seats) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th Lok Sabha | 1998 | 12 |
9 / 12 |
 9 |
3669825 | 1.0% | Odisha (12) |
| 13th Lok Sabha | 1999 | 12 |
10 / 12 |
1 |
4378536 | 1.2% | Odisha (12) |
| 14th Lok Sabha | 2004 | 12 |
11 / 12 |
1 |
5082849 | 1.3% | Odisha (12) |
| 15th Lok Sabha | 2009 | 18 |
14 / 18 |
2 |
6612552 | 1.6% | Odisha (18) |
| 16th Lok Sabha | 2014 | 21 |
20 / 21 |
6 |
9491497 | 1.7% | Odisha (21) |
| 17th Lok Sabha | 2019 | 21 |
12 / 21 |
 8 |
10172041 | 1.7% | Odisha (21) |
Odisha Vidhan Sabha (Lower House)
| Vidhan Sabha Term | UP elections |
Seats contested |
Seats won |
Seats Change |
% of votes |
Party Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12th Vidhan Sabha | 2000 | 84 |
68 / 147 |
68 |
29.4% | 4151895 |
| 13th Vidhan Sabha | 2004 | 84 |
61 / 147 |
7 |
27.4% | 4632280 |
| 14th Vidhan Sabha | 2009 | 129 |
103 / 147 |
42 |
38.9% | 6903641 |
| 15th Vidhan Sabha | 2014 | 147 |
117 / 147 |
14 |
43.9% | 9334852 |
| 16th Vidhan Sabha | 2019 | 146 |
112 / 147 |
5 |
45.2% | 10470941 |
List of chief ministers
Chief Minister of Odisha
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term in office | Assembly | Constituency | Ministry | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed Office | Left Office | Time in Office | ||||||
| 1 |  |
Naveen Patnaik (1946–) |
5 March 2000 | 15 May 2004 | 22 years, 269 days | 12th | Hinjili | Patnaik I |
| 16 May 2004 | 21 May 2009 | 13th | Patnaik II | |||||
| 22 May 2009 | 20 May 2014 | 14th | Patnaik III | |||||
| 21 May 2014 | 28 May 2019 | 15th | Patnaik IV | |||||
| 29 May 2019 | Incumbent | 16th | Patnaik V | |||||