Odisha: Prithviraj Harichandan, Mukesh Mahaling, Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, Krushna Chandra Mohapatra take oath as ministers
Jun 12, 2024
Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) [India], June 12 : After Mohan Charan Majhi took oath as the Chief Minister of first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Odisha, party leaders including Prithviraj Harichandan, Mukesh Mahaling, Bibhuti Bhusan Jena and Krushna Chandra Mohapatra were also sworn in as ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony was held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneshwar.
Mohan Charan Majhi also took oath as the Chief Minister of the first BJP government in the state, after its emphatic performance in the assembly polls, bringing an end to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)'s 24-year-old reign.
Along with Majhi, two deputy Chief Ministers -- Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida were also sworn in.
Odisha Governor Raghubar Das administered the oath to the first BJP Chief Minister of the state along with the deputies.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Naveen Patnaik, who served as chief minister of Odisha for 24 years was also present on the stage.
The ceremony also witnessed the presence of several high-profile leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Nitin Gadkari, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Majhi (52), belonging to the Santali tribe hails from the state's Keonjhar district. He was elected leader of the BJP legislature party in Odisha on Tuesday.
Beginning his career as a sarpanch from 1997-2000, Majhi was elected to the state assembly for the first time in 2000 from Keonjhar. He was re-elected in 2004. From 2005 to 09, he was the government deputy chief whip in the BJD-BJP coalition government. He was again elected as an MLA in 2019. In the recent polls, Majhi retained the seat by defeating BJD's Mina Majhi by 11,577 votes.
The BJP won 78 of 147 seats in the Odisha assembly polls.
