BHUBANESWAR: Noted BJP tribal leader Mohan Charan Majhi was sworn in as the 15th chief minister of Odisha on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers and chief ministers. Apart from Mr Majhi, two deputy chief ministers, eight cabinet ministers and five ministers of state (independent charge) were also administered oaths of office.
Amidst loud cheers from tens of thousands of supporters and party workers, governor Raghubar Das administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Majhi at the Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar at 5.10 pm.
Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Prabhati Paridatook oaths as deputy chief ministers.
The legislators who were inducted into the Cabinet include Suresh Pujari, Rabi Narayan Naik, Nityanand Gond, Krushna Chandra Patra, Prithviraj Harichandan, Mukesh Mahaling, Bibhuti Bhusan Jena and Krushna Chandrra Mahapatra.
Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia, Suryabanshi Suraj, Pradeep Bala Samanta, Gokulananda Mallik and Sampad Chandra Swain were administered oaths as ministers of state.
Five-time Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik graced the swearing-in ceremony.
Sources said senior BJP leader and Ranpur MLA Surama Padhy is likely to be elected as the new Speaker of the Odisha Assembly.
Dressed in his characteristic white robes with a royal blue half jacket, Mr Majhi walked over to and sought the blessings of Mr Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda and a few other top leaders of the party.
Before taking the oath as the new CM, Mr Majhi paid respect to the Odia leaders, who in the past played a crucial role in the formation of Odisha as a separate state on the basis of its language.
As many as nine chief ministers, including Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh and Himant Biswa Sarma of Assam, of BJP-ruled states, joined the oath-taking ceremony.
The CM will hold his first Cabinet meeting later in the evening, where he is expected to announce some crucial decisions.
Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, the new CM announced the reopening of the state secretariat's doors for journalists after a period of four years. The previous Naveen Patnaik government had banned the entry of journalists to the state secretariat in 2020 on the pretext of the Convid-19 crisis.
