By Amarendra Mohanty
Our rich tributes to the son of the soil, legendary, visionary, bravery, adventurer, aviator, businessman, a true leader and a great politician Biju Babu on his birth centenary.
It would be a real honor to our beloved Biju Babu if we can fulfill his dream. He was the man who dared to dream big and worked hard to make it reality.
“In my dream of the 21st century for the State, I would have young men and women who put the interest of the State before them. They will have pride in themselves, confidence in themselves. They will not be at anybody’s mercy, except their own selves. By their brains, intelligence and capacity, they will recapture the history of Kalinga.” -Biju Patnaik @1992
Biju Babu was a charismatic leader who thought about the poor people, empowerment of women, growth of the state, farmers, employment and scientists. A man having full of ideas and was restless to implement those.
Mr.Patnaik was a true innovator who imagined about Port @Paradip, SAIL @Rourkela, HAL @Sunabeda, NALCO, OUAT, Bhubaneswar Airport, Choudwar & Barbil industrial belts and many more.
He was really a Global Odia who thought globally and acted locally. He dreamed about a strong and developed Odisha.
Biju Babu was truly different who won the election uncontested without spending a penny in 1946.
At the age of 30, he was not a job seeker but a job creator being one of India’s top industrialists then. He was the Chief Minister of Odisha at the age of 45. He used to encourage the educated youth to join politics.
He was a mass leader who focused on the four important things-National Unity, Democracy, Secularism and Imperialism
Mr.Patnaik was a popular freedom fighter and an ace pilot who was awarded the highest ‘Bhoomi Putra’, a honorary citizenship and ‘Bintang Jasa Utama’, the highest national award in Indonesia for his role in Indonesian freedom struggle.
His role in saving Kashmir was unparalleled where he brought 17 soldiers of 1-Sikh regiment commanded by Lt.Col. Dewan Ranjit Rai on 27October, 1947.
Mr.Patnaik was absolutely right when he said ‘Odisha is a rich state where poor people live’.
He was a motivator who used to say ‘To be born poor is not a crime but to remain so is indeed a crime’.
‘’Be loyal not to me but to the destiny of the State’.
Amarendra Mohanty, IT Professional, Research Scholar & Social Worker. Twitter- @AmarendraM +91 9791045053
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