Prasanna Pattnaik

Prasanna Pattnaik (born 1 June 1948)[1] is an Indian politician and the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA of Odisha. He has been elected three times to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Kamakhyanagar constituency.[2][3][4][5][6]

Prasanna Pattnaik
Portrait of Prasanna Pattnaik
Member: Odisha Legislative Assembly
In office
March 1985 – March 1995
In office
March 1977 – March 1980
ConstituencyKamakshyanagar
Personal details
Born
Prasanna Pattnaik

(1948-06-01) 1 June 1948
Bhuban, Odisha, India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Other political
affiliations		Janata Dal (1990-1995)
BJP (1985-1990)
Janata Party (1977-1984)
SpouseNalini Prabha Patnaik
ChildrenBarnali Patnaik,
Mrunali Patnaik
ProfessionPolitician, Social Worker

He worked to establish the BJP in Odisha during the 1980s, and rejoined the BJP along with his wife Nalini Prabha Patnaik in 2014, to further establish BJP in the 2014 Odisha Assembly elections.[7][8]

Early life

Prasanna Pattnaik was born in a small village Bhuban in Dhenkanal District of Indian State Odisha (Then Orissa). His father was Narayana Pattnaik. His interest in politics started from his student life.

Political career

Prasanna Pattnaik started his political career as a student leader in the historic student movement of 1964 in Odisha. Thereafter, he joined Swatantra Party headed by Late R.N Singhdeo (the then Chief Minister of Odisha) where he was the President of Yuva Swatantra Party, Dhenkanal District and State Executive Member of Swatantra Party. After liquidation of Swatantra Party and merger with Lok Dal, Prasanna Pattnaik became the State executive member and District General Secretaryof Dhenkanal District.

He actively took part in total revolution headed by Late Jayaprakash Narayan known as JP Movement which took a momentum in 1974 and got arrested along with many leaders and this gave a start to his political career in Odisha Politics. He joined the total revolution of J.P. Movement in 1975 and was detained under MISA (and kept in Dhenkanal and Palahara Jail) and DIR.[9] After the lifting of National Emergency, he was released from Jail and he joined Bharatiya Jana Sangha. Thenafter, the Janata Party was formed under the leadership of Late Chandrasekhar (Ex-Prime Minister of India). He contested for Janata Party and Won the Legislative Assembly Seat from Kamakhyanagar constituency in the year 1977 at the age of 28 years.

In 1980, Bharatiya Jana Sanga revived again as Bharatiya Janata Party and Prasanna Pattnaik became the National Executive Member of BJP under the leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was also the General Secretary of Odisha Unit. He played a vital role in establishing the party in Odisha by winning the only Legislative Assembly Seat for his party (Bharatiya Janata Party) from the same constituency, Kamakhayanagar in 1985 elections. Thus, he earned the distinction of being the First BJP MLA of Odisha and was the only BJP representative in the Odisha Legislative Assembly then. He was recognized by the Speaker of Odisha Legislative Assembly as the Leader of BJP. He has contributed to the education system of his village (Bhuban and kamakhyanagar) by founding many schools and colleges.[10]

Later he joined Janata Dal under the leadership of Sri. Biju Patnaik. He was elected for the third time from the same constituency in the year 1990. After facing defeat in 1995 Assembly elections, he took a sabbatical from politics. During this time, he worked as a social worker for the development of kamakhyanagar and Bhuban. After a long gap, Prasanna Pattnaik returned to active politics by re-joining BJP along with his wife, Nalini Prabha Patnaik and hundreds of followers in 2014. He contested for BJP from Kamakhyanagar in 2014 Odisha Assembly Elections.[11] Even after joining BJP in the last moment before the 2014 Odisha Assembly Elections, Prasanna Pattnaik helped BJP gain a commendable 8.18% more votes in comparison to the previous assembly elections.[12] He is a permanent State Executive Member of BJP Odisha Unit. He continues to work to strengthen the position of BJP in Odisha.

Legislative history
House Constituency Start End Party Notes
10th Vidhan Sabha Kamakshyanagar 1990 1995 Janata Dal[13]
9th Vidhan Sabha Kamakshyanagar 1985 1990 Bharatiya Janata Party[14] First BJP MLA in Odisha
7th Vidhan Sabha Kamakshyanagar 1977 1980 JNP[15]

References
  1. "Prasanna Patanayak". Mo Odisha. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  2. "MEMBER OF LAGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY". Dhenkanal District Administration. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  3. "Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1977".
  4. "Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1985".
  5. "Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1990".
  6. Kamakshyanagar (Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency)
  7. "State's first BJP MLA returns to Party". the pioneer. 23 March 2014.
  8. "Odisha polls: First BJP MLA in Odisha quits BJD, returns to saffron fold". the pioneer. 22 March 2014.
  9. "Prasanna Patanayak". Mo Odisha. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  10. "Bhuban Womens Junior College Bhuban Dhenkanal".
  11. http://www.bjp.org/en/media-resources/press-releases/list-of-candidates-for-odisha-assembly-election-2014
  12. Kamakshyanagar (Odisha Vidhan Sabha constituency)
  13. "Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1990".
  14. "Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1985".
  15. "Orissa Assembly Election Results in 1977".
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