Naveen Patnaik resigns as Odisha CM

Bhubaneswar, June 5: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday tendered his resignation to Governor Raghubar Das following the party’s defeat in the Assembly elections.

CM Patnaik will sit in the opposition bench for the first time in his over two-decade-long political career.

The outgoing CM went to the Governor’s house in the morning in a carcade and submitted his resignation.

Senior leaders of the party, including V.K. Pandian, Pranab Prakash Das, Arun Sahu, Debi Mishra and Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak also held a meeting at the residence of Patnaik to discuss the future strategy of the party.

The writer-turned-politician was first sworn in as the Chief Minister of Odisha on March 5, 2000, after his party came to power riding on the popularity of his father and former CM Biju Patnaik.

Naveen Patnaik will leave the CM's chair after 24 years of his rule. His dream to become the longest-serving chief minister of the country with the sixth term was shattered by a strong anti-incumbency wave against his government.

The BJD managed to secure only 51 seats this time as compared to the 112 seats it got in the 2019 Assembly polls.

The Bharatiya Janata Party wrested the power from BJD by winning 78 seats out of the 147-member Assembly.