Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Mohan Charan Majhi was sworn in as the 16th Chief Minister of Odisha on Wednesday.
In the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, their Cabinet colleagues and Chief Ministers of nine BJP-ruled States, Governor Raghubar Das administered the oath of office to Mr. Majhi, a four-time MLA from the Keonjhar Assembly constituency. He is the third tribal Chief Minister after late Hemanand Biswal and Giridhar Gamang since Odisha became a separate State in 1936.
K. V. Singh Deo, six-time MLA from the Patnagarh Assembly constituency, and Prabhati Parida, first-time Nimapara MLA, also took oath of office. The two leaders will serve as Deputy Chief Ministers in the State’s first BJP government.
Sixteen BJP MLAs were sworn in as new Ministers. Of the 16, 11 Ministers, including Mr. Majhi and his two deputies, hold Cabinet ranks, while five were administered oaths as Ministers of State with independent charge.
Mr. Modi arrived at Janata Maidan, the venue of the swearing-in ceremony, from Raj Bhawan with hundreds of people flanking the road. The Prime Minister flew down to Bhubaneswar after attending the swearing-in-ceremony of Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Odisha BJP MLA Mohan Charan Majhi, right, is seen with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Governor Raghubar Das during the oath-taking ceremony | Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT
Eight MLAs who were handed over Cabinet and independent charges are first-time legislators. Prabhati Parida, Suresh Pujari, Prithiviraj Harichandan, Bibhuti Bhushan Jena and Krushna Chandra Mohapatra have been made Cabinet ministers. Pradeep Balasamanta, Gokula Chandra Mallick and Sampad Kumar Swain will discharge their duties as Ministers with independent charges.
The new government has four Ministers from the tribal community and two from the Scheduled Castes. The remaining 10 Ministers come from the General Category.
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Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Bhupendrabhai Patel (Gujarat), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Vishnu Deo Sai (Chhattisgarh), Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), Bhajan Lal Sharma (Rajasthan), Pramod Sawant (Goa) and Manik Saha (Tripura) were present in the ceremony. Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Jual Oram were seen on the stage. Former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was personally invited by Mr. Majhi in the morning, too graced the occasion.
