Former Odisha Chief Secretary Bijay Pattnaik Ends Political Stint, Quits Congress

Bhubaneswar: In a significant jolt to the Odisha Congress, senior leader Bijay Kumar Pattnaik announced his resignation from the party on Friday.

Pattnaik, who had contested the 2024 assembly elections from Paralakhemundi as a Congress candidate, submitted his resignation via email to the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

In his resignation letter, Pattnaik expressed feelings of diminished importance within the party, stating that he no longer felt valued and chose to resign to maintain his self-respect. Despite his departure, Pattnaik stressed that he would not be joining another political party and intends to focus on serving the public independently.

The former chief secretary of Odisha, Patnaik was once a prominent figure in the Naveen Patnaik administration. The 1976-batch IAS officer served as Odisha’s chief secretary from 2010 to 2013 and was principal secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from 2004 to 2010.

During his tenure, he was regarded as a powerful bureaucrat and a key figure alongside Naveen’s then-adviser Pyarimohan Mohapatra, before Mohapatra’s fall from grace in May 2012. Pattnaik also held crucial roles as forest secretary and water resources secretary.

Following his retirement, Pattnaik was appointed chairman of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission from 2013 to 2014.