Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo

Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo is an Indian politician from Odisha and a member of the former royal family of the princely state of Patna, Bolangir. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Deo is serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha, holding the portfolios of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment and the Ministry of Energy.^[1] He is also a member of the National Executive of the BJP.^[2][3][4][5] Deo is the grandson of former Chief Minister of Odisha, Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo.^[6][7]

Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo
5th Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 June 2024 Serving with Pravati Parida
Governor	Kambhampati Hari Babu
Chief Minister	Mohan Charan Majhi
Ministry and Departments	Agriculture and Farmer’s Empowerment Energy
Preceded by	Basant Kumar Biswal
Minister of Urban Development Government of Odisha
In office 18 May 2004 – 9 March 2009
Chief Minister	Naveen Patnaik
Preceded by	Samir Dey
Succeeded by	Naveen Patnaik
Minister of Public Enterprises Government of Odisha
In office 6 August 2002 – 9 March 2009
Chief Minister	Naveen Patnaik
Preceded by	Bed Prakash Agarwal
Succeeded by	Naveen Patnaik
Minister of Industry Government of Odisha
In office 6 March 2000 – 16 May 2004
Chief Minister	Naveen Patnaik
Preceded by	Amarnath Pradhan
Succeeded by	Biswabhusan Harichandan
Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 Jun 2024
Preceded by	Saroj Kumar Meher
Constituency	Patnagarh
In office 1995–2019
Preceded by	Bibekananda Meher
Succeeded by	Saroj Kumar Meher
Constituency	Patnagarh
Personal details
Born	(1956-06-14) 14 June 1956 (age 69) Bolangir, Odisha, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse	Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo
Children	Nivritti Kumari Deo
Parent	Raj Raj Singh Deo (father)
Residence(s)	Sailashree Palace, Bolangir, Odisha
Education	Bachelor of Arts
Alma mater	Delhi University
Source:

Early life and background

Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo is a member of the former royal family of Patna, which is now in Odisha. He is the son of the former Member of Parliament from Bolangir, Raj Raj Singh Deo.^[8] Deo is a grandson of former Chief Minister of Odisha, Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo and Kailash Kumari Devi, daughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.^[9][8] Deo completed his B.A. from Delhi University.^[10]

Career

Deo was a Cabinet Minister of Industry and Public Enterprise from 2000 to 2004 and from 2004 to 2009 and also served as Urban Development and Public Enterprise minister in the Naveen Patnaik government until Patnaik left the National Democratic Alliance in 2009.^[11][12][13]

Deo won the 2024 Odisha Legislative Assembly election representing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Patnagarh Assembly Constituency in Bolangir district. He is also a former president of BJP Odisha.^[10]

On 12 June 2024, he took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha along with Pravati Parida and Mohan Charan Majhi as Chief Minister at Janata Maidan, Bhubaneswar. Governor Raghubar Das administered their oath. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with Chief Ministers of 10 BJP-ruled states were present.^{[14][15][16][17][13][18]}

Personal life

His wife, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, was a Member of Parliament of the 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th Lok Sabha of India. They have a daughter, Nivritti Kumari. Nivritti is married to businessman and member of the former Mewar royal family, Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar, the son of Arvind Singh Mewar, who was also a businessman.^[19]