Baijayant Jay Panda was elected to the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha) for his second term in April 2006 from the State of Orissa and represents the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party of which he is the Parliamentary Party Leader (in the Rajya Sabha). BJ Panda represents the new breed of younger generation Indian politicians, many of whom have been educated abroad and have had alternate careers before choosing to serve the Nation and contribute to their State through politics. A graduate from Michigan, USA with a combined degree in Engineering and Management, BJ Panda worked in the corporate sector before joining politics. He assisted the late Shri Biju Patnaik and subsequently Shri Naveen Patnaik, who founded the Bijju Janata Dal party, which has found strong acceptance from the people of Orissa and has been repeatedly voted back in elections. In his earlier corporate career Sri Panda was associated with industry organizations like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), FICCI and the International Chromium Development Association. In the past he has also been associated with the Govt. of Orissa’s Industrial Advisory Committee and been a Director on the Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Orissa (IPICOL). As a parliamentarian, he has been a member of many important committees and is currently a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Coal, Steel & Mines as well as being the Convener of the Sub-committee on Coal. BJ Panda helped to form the Young Parliamentarians Forum (YPF) and was its Convener, he has also been associated with the India-USA Forum of Parliamentarians and was its Chairman until June 2008. He was awarded the prestigious “Bharat Asmita National Award” for best parliamentary practices by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Sri K. G. Balakrishnan in 2008. In parliament and public life Sri Panda passionately espouses the cause of his home state Orissa as well as other national issues close to his hearts such as economic development for poverty alleviation, education and information technology. BJ Panda holds a Private Pilot’s Licence for both aircraft and helicopters and also has a passion for adventure sports like Skydiving and Bungee Jumping.
