Naveen in CNN-IBN's IOTY race

Bhubaneswar: BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik’s outstanding performance at the hustings last year not only saw him crowned as the chief minister of Odisha for fourth time in a row staving off a strong nationwide Modi wave but also has earned him a place in the race for the ‘CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (IOTY) 2014’ now.

Highly acclaimed for Odisha’s efforts in effectively handling the administrative mechanism during the cyclone Phailin, Patnaik’s nomination in the ‘Politics’ category features him amongst the individuals who have been instrumental in redefining the political landscape of the country.

Along with Patnaik, BJP president Amit Shah, Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley, first chief minister of the newly-formed Telangana K. Chandrasekhar Rao, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and diplomat-turned-politician Sashi Tharoor are the other nominees in this category.

The CNN-IBN IOTY awards seek to recognise the contribution of Indian(s) to strengthen the society’s foundation thereby building ‘Brand India’. The award is also conferred in various other categories, namely Business, Sports, Entertainment, Public Service, Global Indian and Popular Choice.

Social media giant Facebook is a partner in this initiative.