Naveen Patnaik of Odisha has become the second longest serving chief minister of a state in India with a tenure of 23 years and 139 days on Sunday, surpassing the record of former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu. Patnaik, the five-time Chief Minister of Odisha, took charge on March 5, 2000, and has been holding the post for the last 23 years and 139 days.
Patnaik is now second only to Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim, who holds the enviable record of helming a state for the longest time of 24 years and 166 days between December 1994 and May 2019. Basu left office in 2000 after ruling the eastern state for over 23 continuous years, while Chamling lost the assembly polls in May 2019 in the Himalayan state.
The 76-year-old Patnaik was in 1997 dismissed as a novice by detractors and well-wishers alike after the death of his father and former chief minister Biju Patnaik. If the Biju Janata Dal returns to power in the assembly polls due next year, Patnaik will be well on his way to become the longest serving chief minister in the country. He formed a new party on 26 December 1997 in the name of his father as a breakaway faction from Janta Dal. Patnaik also served as Union Minister of Steel and Mines from 1998 to 2000, and he was a member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Aska from 1997 to 2000.
| Rank | Name | State | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pawan Kumar Chamling | Sikkim | 24 years, 205 days (12 December 1994 – 27 May 2019) |
| 2 | Naveen Patnaik | Odisha | 23 years, 139 days (5 March 2000 – Present) |
| 3 | Jyoti Basu | West Bengal | 23 years, 137 days (21 June 1977 – 6 December 2000) |
| 4 | Gegong Apang | Arunachal Pradesh | 19 years, 14 days (16 February 1980 – 14 March 1999) |
| 5 | Lal Thanhawla | Mizoram | 18 years, 269 days (18 December 1984 – 28 December 2003) |
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