The curtains are drawn on the Biju Janata Dal’s tenure in Odisha, ending the 24-year rule of the party in the state. On Wednesday, Naveen Patnaik resigned as the Odisha Chief Minister to pave the way for the formation of the first BJP government in the state.

In the elections held recently, the BJP bagged 78 of the 147 seats in the Odisha Legislative Assembly while the BJD fell short of the majority mark with 51 seats. With the decks now cleared, all eyes are now on the BJP over which leader it picks to lead the state as Chief Minister.

Three BJP leaders are believed to be in the reckoning for the post. While the final decision will rest with top BJP leaders including Narendra Modi, JP Nadda and Amit Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram and Sambit Patra are seen as frontrunners for the post.

Jual Oram

An MLA of one term and five-time Member of Parliament, Jual Oram was appointed as India’s first Union Minister for Tribal Affirs under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999. A veteran leader, Oram (63) was among the first people to join the BJP in Odisha.

Oram, who won the Sundergarh Lok Sabha constituency in this election, holds a diploma degree in electrical engineering and worked for BHEL before quitting his job to enter politics. When asked about the prospects of him becoming the CM, Oram recently said that he would discharge his duties faithfully if entrusted with the job. “Though I do not aspire to be the CM, I won’t turn down the job if offered,” he said.

Dharmendra Pradhan

Having entered the political arena as an MLA in 200, Dharmendra Pradhan is seen as a key contender for the post of Chief Minister of Odisha. His experience as Union minister for a decade and as election in-charge in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Odisha give him an edge over the other contenders, believe party insiders.

In this election, Pradhan, who served as the Education minister before the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha, defeated the BJD’s Pranab Prakash Das from Sambalpur by a margin of over 1 lakh votes. He won the Deogarh Lok Sabha seat in 2004 but lost from Pallahara in 2009. He has served two terms as a Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh prior to 2024 when he was fielded from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat.

Sambit Patra

The newly-elected MP from the Puri Lok Sabha seat also figures in the names being discussed as a possible contender for the post of Chief Minister. One of BJP’s most known faces on television, Patra holds dual medical degrees from VSS Medical College and Hospital in Burla town, Sambalpur district, and SCB Medical College, Cuttack.

Patra unsuccessfully ran as the BJP candidate from the Puri seat in 2019 as well when he lost to his BJD rival by a slender margin of 11,000 votes. He was also fielded by the BJP during the 2012 municipal council elections for the Delhi ward of Kashmere Gate but failed to win. He is believed to have been hand-picked by Arun Jaitley as the party spokesperson.

Baijayant Panda

Seen as a close confidante of BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, Baijayant Panda (Jay Panda) joined the BJP in March 2019 after being suspended by the BJD for alleged anti-party activities. His entry into the BJP was noticeable as he was immediately handed the post of party vice-president which he continues to serve to date.

An erudite leader, Panda, also a two-time Rajya Sabha MP and a one-term Lok Sabha MP, led a successful career in the corporate world before switching to politics and holds degrees in management and engineering from the Michigan Technological University. In the 2024 elections, he defeated BJD’s Anshuman Mohanty by a margin of over 66,000 votes and is known to be among the few leaders to have the backing of the RSS.