2019 was a year of success for Naveen Patnaik and Narendra Modi; inauspicious for Congress

SUBRAT DAS Bhubaneswar, 31/12: The year 2019, which is coming to an end today, was a year of success for Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both ascended the throne in the general elections held in April-May. {"id":22889,"sizeSlug":"large"} Naveen, who has been power in the state since 2000, was elected as the chief minister for the fifth consecutive term this year. BJD, the regional outfit founded by him in the name of his great father Biju Patnaik, completed its 22nd year and became the longest surviving regional party in Odisha. {"id":22890,"sizeSlug":"large"} In order to directly connect with the people, Naveen, who received the popular mandate by winning 112 seats in the 147-member state assembly,  launched "Mo Sarkar scheme this year. Under this scheme, Naveen and his colleagues have been contacting common man over phone to collect feedback on the functioning of the departments, which have direct link with the people. The chief minister has also enunciated 5-T (teamwork, transparency, technology, transformation and time) mantra has the hallmark of good governance. {"id":22891,"width":576,"height":323,"sizeSlug":"large"} Naveen  also initiated measures for the environment protection and the periphery development of ancient Jagannath temple in Puri and Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar.  He banned the single-use plastic to protect environment, while sanctioned funds for the beautification of the 11th century Lingaraj temple and 12th century Jagannath temple. {"id":22894,"sizeSlug":"large"} On the other hand, Narendra Damodardas Modi was elected as the prime minister for the second term. In Odisha, the Modi-led BJP became the largest opposition  party in the state assembly by improving its tally to 23 from the earlier 10 seats. The party wrested the Leader of Opposition post from thë Congress. Similarly, the saffron party won 7 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats from the state this time as against the lone seat it had won in 2014 elections. Two senior BJP leaders from Odisha -Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi-found place in the Modi cabinet this time. {"id":22893,"width":570,"height":558,"sizeSlug":"large"} The Congress, which was the second largest party last time, finished poor third in the 2019 assembly election  and  lost the covetous post of Leader of Opposition as its tally came down from 16 to 9. It managed to win lone Lok Sabha seat from Odisha. Several senior party leaders including Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik tasted defeat.