Odisha’s Mohan Charan Majhi government has made a U-turn on the decision to rename the prestigious “Biju Patnaik Sports Award,” as “Odisha Rajya Krida Samman” succumbing to public pressure.

Biju Patnaik, who was twice the chief minister of the state, is the father of the leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik who ruled the state from 2000 to 2024. He was ousted from power following the defeat of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the last elections.

Chief minister Majhi said there is no such decision to rename the award that is given in honour of Biju Patnaik. “No such decision has been taken,” averred Majhi who expressed surprise at the public uproar over the issue. He said he came to know about it from media reports.

Majhi further said: “My government honours the legendary sons of the soil. Biju Babu will forever be remembered for his decades-long contribution to Odisha as well as the nation in both political and social spheres. The Biju Patnaik Sports Award will continue.”

However, Majhi’s statement that he had no information about the change of name of the prestigious award points out how the Chief Minister’s Office is kept in the dark about the functioning of various departments and that there is lack of coordination among departments. The sports and youth services department even issued a notification on the guidelines of the award on Friday.

To ensure that the move of his government does not invite further criticism, Majhi on Sunday went to Naveen Niwas along with deputy chief minister K.V. Singhdeo and invited Naveen to attend the all-party meeting that was held on Sunday ahead of the beginning of the Odisha Assembly from Monday. However, Naveen skipped the all-party meeting held under the chairmanship of Speaker Surama Padhi. Instead, he sent BJD MLA Pramila Mallick to the meet.

On Saturday, the BJD criticised the BJP’s move to change the name of the sports award and warned the government to refrain from taking such decisions.

The award was instituted by the Naveen Patnaik government in 2001-2002 in honour of Biju Patnaik to felicitate eminent sports personalities of the state and excellence in sports journalism, including para sportsperson of the year. The award is given not only to sports personalities but also to people for their contribution to the cause of promoting sports. The cash prize varies from ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh. The award is given every year on August 29, on the National Sports Day.

Coming down heavily on the Majhi government, BJD MLA and former minister Arun Sahoo had said, “Biju Babu was a national asset honoured by three different countries. He participated in the country’s freedom struggle. What does the State government want to prove by removing his name from sports awards?”

Sahoo further said, “Biju Patnaik was not an individual but an institution. Everyone admires him for his bravery and his contribution to nation building, He commands the respect of leaders across party lines. Removing his name from the award will hurt the sentiments of people across the globe. The government should refrain from it.”

The BJD had earlier remained silent on the Majhi government’s move to rename the Laccmi (Location Accessible Multimodal initiative) bus service to the Mukhyamantri bus service.