Overview

• Naveen Patnaik was discharged from a private hospital in Mumbai on July 7 after undergoing cervical spine surgery for arthritis.
• He will remain in Mumbai under doctors’ supervision until medical authorities clear him to return to Odisha.
• In his absence, a 15-member Biju Janata Dal committee led by vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra is overseeing party operations.
• By late June he had met key recovery milestones, walking unassisted on June 23 and extending Rath Yatra greetings from his hospital bed on June 26.
• These governance measures have upheld political continuity in Odisha while Patnaik completes his recuperation.