Ruben Banerjee, former group editor-in-chief of Outlook, is a veteran journalist who has worked with Hindustan Times, Al Jazeera, India Today and Indian Express. Currently the general secretary of the Editors Guild of India, he is also the author of the books – The Odisha Tragedy: A Cyclone’s Year of Calamity and Editor Missing: The Media in Today’s India.
<p>In 1997, when the beloved Odia politician Biju Patnaik died, his son, Naveen Patnaik, stepped forward to contest the by-election to his father’s Lok Sabha seat. Then fifty one years old, Patnaik, who once ran a boutique in Delhi, had never contested an election or held public office and spoke no Odia. Patnaik wrested absolute control of the BJD and won election after election: he has been elected to the Lok Sabha three times, and as chief minister of Odisha five times. But this winning streak ended in 2024, when the BJP managed to snatch control of the state from the ageing Patnaik. In this book, the veteran journalist, Ruben Banerjee, decodes the success and downfall of the enigmatic politician who stays in the shadows and rarely gives interviews. This is a thrilling story of the rise and fall of an unlikely and seemingly unbeatable politician.</p>
