Naveen Patnaik has been accused of submitting a fake affidavit misrepresenting his election expenditure, for which a complaint has been filed against him under the Representation of People Act.

While the verdict is still awaited, any adverse ruling could mean that Patnaik may lose his seat in the state assembly as well as be disqualified as Odisha’s Chief Minister.

Patnaik began his political career in 1997, after winning the Lok Sabha election for the seat of Aska, left vacant after the death of his father Biju Patnaik.

He has since been climbing up the ladder of Indian politics. After an year of winning the parliamentary election, Patnaik floated the Biju Janata Dal and established himself as a powerful regional leader.

He became a minister at Centre in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998, resigning from the Union Cabinet in 2000 after the BJD-BJP alliance emerged victorious in the Odisha state elections. Patnaik went on to serve as Odisha’s Chief Minister for four consecutive terms. Into his fourth term now, Patnaik is facing challenges to his state leadership for the first time.

The problem for Naveen Patnaik arose because of the two affidavits submitted to the Election Commission after the assembly elections in Odisha in 2014.