YearEnder 2024: The year that was a roller coaster ride for Odisha

With the change in the Government, 2024 was a roller coaster ride for Odisha. 2024 showcased Odisha as a battleground for competing political visions and it will go down as an epoch-making year in Odisha politics. 44 years, 2 months and 2 days after its formation, the BJP finally realized its dream of coming to power on its own in Odisha. Dinalipi English takes a look at what made the headlines in the State this year.

January:

• Foundation stone for Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Project laid on January 1
• Shree Jagannath Temple Heritage Corridor project inaugurated on January 17
• Gopinath Swain, Binod Maharana, Bhagabat Pradhan and Binod Kumar Pasayat nominated for Padma Shri on January 25

February:

• The first World Odia Language Conference having the tagline ‘Language is past treasure, language is the future’ was inaugurated on February 3 at Janata Maidan, Bhubaneswar.
• Rahul Gandhi held Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Sundargarh on February 6
• Interim budget of Rs 1.18 lakh crore presented in Odisha Assembly on February 8
• Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw elected to Rajya Sabha on February 20

March

• Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bus Terminal at Baramunda in Bhubaneswar on March 1
• ECI announces 4-phase polls for 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha from May 13 to June 1 on March 16
• State BJP president Manmohan Samal draws curtains on pre-poll alliance, says party to fight elections alone on March 22.
• Veteran BJD leader and former minister Damodar Rout passes away at 81 on March 22

April

• ECI orders transfer of controversial IPS officer Asish Singh along with five others and 2 IAS officers on April 2
• Eight persons die in a ferry boat capsize in Mahanadi River in Jharsuguda district on April 19
• Animesh Pradhan from Talcher clears the UPSCs examination securing all India second rank on April 16

May

• ECI directs transfer of Mission Shakti department Secretary Sujata R Karthikeyan following allegations of misuse of public office on May 2
• First phase elections in 28 Assembly and 4 LS seats of Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Berhampur and Koraput on May 13
• Second phase elections in 35 Assembly and 5 LS seats of Bargarh, Sundargarh, Balangir, Kandhamal and Aska on May 20
• Third phase elections in 42 Assembly and 6 LS seats of Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Puri and Bhubaneswar on May 26
• ECI orders suspension of special secretary at CMO DS Kutey on May 28

June

• Final phase elections held in 42 Assembly and 6 LS seats of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur on June 1
• Poll results day, BJP dethrones BJD by winning 78 Assembly and 20 Lok Sabha seats. BJD musters 51 Assembly seats, draws blank in LS. Congress wins 14 Assembly and 1 LS seat on June 4
• VK Pandian announces retirement from active politics on June 9
• Mohan Charan Majhi sworn in as the first BJP CM of Odisha along with KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida as Deputy CMs. Eight others take oath as Cabinet Ministers and five ministers of state on June 12.

July

• After a gap of almost 4 decades, the inner chamber of Shree Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar in Puri was opened for shifting of valuables on July 14 – an issue that generated a lot of both public curiosity and political face-offs.
• Renowned agriculturist Kamala Pujari passes away at 73 on July 20
• BJD Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Mohanta quits party, joins BJP. Elected to RS from BJP later on July 31

August

• Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on August 5 revived the much awaited public grievance hearing which has been discontinued since 2008.
• On August 19, more than 25 fell ill at Chikiti Maundpur village of Ganjam district after consuming spurious liquor. The district hogged the headlines for the hooch tragedy in Chikiti where five persons lost their lives.
• Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stirs up a controversy by stating in favour of changing the name of Ravenshaw University on August 31

September

• BJD RS member Sujeet Kumar quits party, joins BJP on September 6.
• CM Mohan Charan Majhi launches CM-Kisan Yojana on September8.
• PM Narendra Modi launches Subhadra Yojana from Bhubaneswar on September 17.
• Communal tension erupts in Bhadrak, curfew clamped on September 27

October

• The first installment of Rs 5,000 to over 40 lakh beneficiaries was released in the second phase under its Subhadra Yojana on October 9.
• CM Mohan Majhi led the Utkarsh Odisha roadshow at Mumbai on October 18 & 19
• Cyclone Dana makes landfall in Odisha, over 5.84 lakh evacuated on October 24 & 25
• In a fallout of an illicit relationship, five members of a nomadic family including three women were murdered in cold blood by a rival group at Karamdihi in Sundargarh on October 29.

November

• CM confirms JSW-POSCO’s Keonjhar steel project on November 2.
• AIIMS doctors revive ‘dead’ man after heart stops for 2 hours on November 19.
• Former CM Dr. HK Mahtab’s 125th birth anniversary celebration launched by President Droupadi Murmu on November 22
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the All-India DGP-IGP Conference at Lok Seva Bhawan on November 29, while Prime Minister Modi presided over the meetings on Nov 30 and Dec 1.

December

• Indian Navy staged an extraordinary operational demonstration on Puri sea beach on December 4
• CM Mohan Charan Majhi starts disbursement of Rs 800 input subsidy to farmers on December 9
• Govt. announces Singapore as country partner for Utkarsh Odisha summit on December 11
• With the massive crop damage in unseasonal rains leading to suicide of at least five farmers, CM Mohan Majhi visited three districts to make on-spot assessment on December 29 and assured all farmers will get compensation
• After 21 days of wandering, Odisha tigress Zeenat sedated & captured in West Bengal on December 29.
• Leader of Opposition and BJD President Naveen Patnaik on December 30 went to Ganjam and December 31 to Puri district to raise the crop damage issue of farmers.