Biju Patnaik Too Had 56” Chest

BHUBANESWAR: It’s not Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who only has 56-inch chest. Odisha’s former chief minister Biju Patnaik, popularly known as ‘Kalinga Sandh’, too had a 56” chest and he is credited for perking up the growth of Odisha.

“Biju Patnaik was very tall as a human being and in his personality. He boasted of the 56-inch chest. His shoulder size was 27-inch, neck size 22 inch and wrist was 14 inch. I have never seen such a gigantic figure. His personality well-reflected in his face and body language,” said Subash Padhi, the tailor of Biju Patnaik.

He met the legendary Biju Patnaik in 1972 when the latter visited the shop to get his kurta pyjama stitched. Remembering his association with Biju Babu, Subash said he first met him at Unit 2 Market Building in 1972.
He currently runs his shop at AL 67 in Bhimatangi in Bhubaneswar.

From 1972 till 1996 Subhas became the favourite tailor and stitched almost more than 600 pairs of kurta pyjamas for him. All kurtas were white in colour with a round neck.

Notably, in the run-up to the 2014 election, Modi in a repartee to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had said: “Netaji has said Modi does not have what it takes to make another Gujarat out of UP. Do you know what making another Gujarat requires? … It requires a chhappan inch ki chhati (56-inch chest).”