Bhubaneswar: Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time tribal MLA from Keonjhar district, was sworn-in as the chief minister of the first BJP government in Odisha at Janata Maidan here on Wednesday. Governor Raghubar Das administered him the oath to office.
Majhi, 52, who belongs to the Santhal community, is the third tribal CM of the state after Congress’s late Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gamang, both of who had shorter tenures. He is known for his non-controversial and vocal nature and has risen through the ranks, starting his career as a sarpanch in 1997-2000.
The Governor also administered oath to his deputies, KV Singhdeo and Pravati Parida. It is after 25 years that Odisha will have two deputy CMs. Hemananda Biswal and Basanta Biswal had served deputy chief ministers in the Congress government led by Janaki Ballav Patnaik in 1995-98.
Eight MLAs– Suresh Pujari, Rabinarayan Naik, Nityanand Gond, Krushna Chandra Patra, Prithviraj Harichandan, Mukesh Mahaling, Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, Krushna Chandra Mohapatra- were also be sworn-in as cabinet ministers and 5 – Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia, Suryabanshi Suraj, Pradeep Balasamanta, Gokula Nanda Mallick and Sampad Kumar Swain- as ministers of state with independent charge.
The strength of the council of ministers, including the CM, is 16 which is within 15% of the strength of the Assembly as prescribed by the Sarkaria Commission.
The event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan and CM of Rajasthan Bhajan Lal Sharma, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai, among others.
Outgoing CM and BJD president Naveen Patnaik was also present. Earlier in the day, Majhi drove to his residence, Naveen Niwas, to formally extended the invitation.
The BJP secured a majority in the Odisha Assembly by winning 78 of 147 seats, ending the 24-year stint of Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha.
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