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Sarpanch-turned-MLA Mohan Charan Majhi takes oath as Odisha chief minister
The Bharatiya Janata Party won 78 of the state's 147 seats, edging out Naveen Patnaik from power, who ruled Odisha for a record 24 years.
BJP MLA Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday took oath as the new chief minister of Odisha. MLAs Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida were sworn in as the two deputy chief ministers of the state.
Earlier this month, the Bharatiya Janata Party won 78 of the state's 147 seats, edging out Naveen Patnaik from power, who ruled Odisha for over 24 years.
Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony, Mohan Charan Manjhi said protecting the state's pride would be the top priority of his government.
"Our double engine government is coming to work for fulfilling Modi guarantees and to resolve the problems of marginalized people," he added.
Senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, union ministers Nitin Gadkari and JP Nadda, and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath were among several politicians who attended the grand event.
Patnaik, whom Mohan Charan Majhi personally invited, also attended the oath-taking event.
MLAs Suresh Pujari, Rabinarayan Naik, Nityananda Gond and Krushna Chandra Patra took oath as ministers in Mohan Charan Majhi's Cabinet.
Prithviraj Harichandan, Mukesh Mahaling, Bibhuti Bhusan Jena and Krushna Chandra Mahapatra also became ministers.
While Mohan Charan Majhi is a four-time MLA, his deputy, Pravati Parida, became an MLA for the first time this month. Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo is a six-time MLA.
Manjhi began his political career as a sarpanch in 1997. He was first elected as the MLA from Keonjhar in 2000. He was re-elected in 2004. Between 2005 and 2009, he served as the BJP-BJD coalition government's deputy chief whip.
He was re-elected as an MLA in 2019.
In the 2024 Odisha assembly election, Mohan Charan Majhi defeated BJD's Meena Majhi by a margin of 11,577 votes. They secured 87,815 and 76,238 votes respectively.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
