The name Indira or Rajiv Gandhi has been known to win elections in many states. Ambedkar fetches votes in Uttar Pradesh and Kamraj in Tamil Nadu. So when Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched a government programme named after his father, the Biju Setu Yojana, the Opposition observed that the panchayat elections are just four months away. In fact, Naveen has been giving his father’s name to project after project — besides his party, the Biju Janata Dal — over the past few years, and not all launches have been timed with an election. In 2006-07, he launched the Biju KBK Yojna after the Centre had slashed funds under a revised plan, called RLTAP, for eight districts in the poverty-stricken KBK belt. In 2007, Naveen announced a statewide rural electrification scheme, Biju Gramjyoti Yojana, which ran parallel to the national Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana. Again, after the Kandhamal riots of 2008, he launched the Biju Kandhamal Yojna and Biju Gajapati Yojna, specialised development packages for two backward districts. There are awards too. The Biju Krushak Vikash Yojana promotes minor and lift irrigation; the Biju Patnaik Youth, Sports and Bravery Awards celebrate the achievements of state’s sportsmen; the Biju Patnaik Award for Scientific Excellence recognises scientific talent. And Biju Patnaik’s birthday on March 9 has been celebrated as Panchayatiraj Siwas for the last few years. Last week, Naveen presented the Biju Patnaik Award for Wildlife Conservation started by the forest and environment department in 2004. Then he launched the Biju Setu Yojana, under which 400 new bridges will be built at Rs 1,000 crore over the next three years, sealing missing links in the rural road network and giving better access for farmers to markets and for children to schools, Naveen said as he spoke of the “unfinished dreams of Biju babu”. The Opposition is indignant. “We don’t want to belittle Biju babu. But there are other unsung heroes who played equally important roles in the formation of modern Orissa,” said BJP leader Suresh Pujari. Apart from schemes and awards, Biju is also part of the names of research centres, an airport, parks, jails, police training academies and a university, besides those of private enterprises. The Biju Patnaik Airport in Buubaneswar is a gleaming marble-and-glass edifice, while the Biju Patnaik Park is the state’s largest. Among private enterprises, there is a Biju Patnaik College of Science & Education, a Biju Patnaik Institute of IT & Management and a Biju Patnaik College of Hotel Management and Tourism. The naming goes beyond Biju and beyond schemes, awards and establishments. A few years ago, the Central Rice Research Institute named a new variety of rice Naveen. Earlier, a mango variety had been named after J B Patnaik while the city-based Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture named a hybrid fish Jayanti, after JB’s wife. Prasanna Patsani, BJD MP from Bhubaneswar, has 16 schools and colleges named after him, such as the Kabi Prasanna Patasani High School.