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Naidu, Majhi seal power shifts in Andhra, Odisha
Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are two states where the NDA nearly swept, winning 20 out of 21 seats in the former and 21 out of 25 seats in the latter
N Chandrababu Naidu and Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday took oath as chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha respectively in glittering ceremonies that underlined the importance of the two states that virtually ensured that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) crossed the majority mark in the Lok Sabha.
Andhra Pradesh governor Abdul Nazeer administered the oath of office to the 74-year-old Naidu, marking his fourth term as chief minister, after the Telugu Desam Party-led NDA swept the assembly polls, bagging 164 out of the total 175 assembly seats.
JanaSena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan and Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh were among the 24 ministers who were administered the oath of office at the ceremony in Vijayawada. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged and patted Naidu after the oath, flanked by Union ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and JP Nadda. Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde was also present.
“Took oath as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at the swearing-in ceremony in Amaravati today. I devote myself to serving the people of my state. Thank you Andhra Pradesh!” Naidu said in a post on X after the ceremony.
Hours later, Majhi took oath as the first BJP chief minister of Odisha at a ceremony attended by Modi, several Union ministers and chief ministers. Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and first-time lawmaker from Nimapara Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.
Governor Raghubar Das administered the oath of secrecy and office to Majhi and 15members of his council at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar. Apart from Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Bhupender Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram, Ashwini Vaishnaw and others attended the ceremony.
“With the blessings of Lord Jagannath and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ‘Developed Odisha’ will be formed. The hopes and aspirations of 4.5 crore Odia people will be fulfilled,” Majhi said on X.
Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are two states where the NDA nearly swept, winning 20 out of 21 seats in the former and 21 out of 25 seats in the latter. The elections also marked a remarkable comeback for Naidu, who was jailed on corruption charges by his predecessor YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the end of former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s 24-year-long stint at the helm of the eastern state.
“Attended the oath-taking ceremony of the new Andhra Pradesh government. Congratulations to Naidu on becoming the chief minister and also to all the others who took oath as ministers in the government,” said Modi on X.
The TDP, JanaSena and BJP government in the southern state is “fully committed to taking AP (Andhra Pradesh) to new heights of glory and fulfilling the aspirations of the state’s youth”, Modi said.
Thanking Modi, Naidu said, “Thank you PM Narendra Modiji, for your august presence at the oath-taking ceremony in Amaravati today.”
Naidu vowed that the TDP, JanaSena and BJP government will strive to deliver a people-centric governance. Shah also congratulated Naidu and Pawan Kalyan. “It is my firm belief that the NDA government will pivot the state of Andhra Pradesh to new heights of prosperity, fulfilling the aspirations and hopes of the people,” the Union home minister said.
After the ceremony, Modi hugged Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan and fondly spoke to them while holding their hands.
Modi then flew to Bhubaneswar where he attended Majhi’s swearing-in ceremony.
More than 50,000 people, mostly BJP supporters invited from across Odisha, turned up for the event at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar. Several hundreds also braved the heat to line the sides of the road leading to the venue.
Majhi, the MLA from Keonjhar Sadar, a reserved constituency for tribals in the mining belt of Keonjhar, was unanimously chosen as the BJP’s legislature party leader on Tuesday.
He is the eastern state’s 15th CM and the third tribal leader to hold the post after Hemanand Biswal and Giridhar Gamang in a state where tribals form 22% of the population.
Majhi will helm the first BJP government in the state that was in the grip of Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) since 2000. In the recently concluded assembly elections, the BJP won an impressive victory with 78 out of the 147 seats, with the BJD managing only 51. The BJP also won 20 out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats on offer, its biggest haul in the eastern state. He was the chief whip of the BJP in the previous assembly.
Chairing the first Cabinet meeting, Majhi announced that all four gates of the Jagannath temple in Puri, three of which had been shut since the Covid pandemic, would be opened from Thursday — a promise the BJP had made its in its manifesto. The Cabinet announced a ₹500 crore corpus fund for the temple, as well as the formation of a committee to implement increase to increase the MSP for paddy to ₹3100 — another promise from the BJP manifesto.
Majhi said his government would implement the Subhadra Yojana, under which each married in the age group of 23 and 59 years will get a cash voucher of 50,000 within two years, within 100 days as the manifesto had promised.
