Mohan Charan Majhi will be the new Chief Minister of Odisha, as decided at a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary meeting on Tuesday. He will be the first leader of the saffron party in the state and will take oath at a ceremony also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 12.
The 52-year-old Majhi will be joined by two deputies — first-time assembly member Prabhati Parida and six-term assemblyman KV Singh Deo, who was elected to the assembly from Keonjhar constituency reserved for STs and is a strong tribal face.
In his first comments to reporters, the Prime Minister said he would work to protect the rights of tribal communities and ensure their development. “We will work to protect the rights of tribal people. We will provide them with all necessary facilities including drinking water. Their development is also very important for making ‘Vikshit Bharat’…,” he told the news agency. Ani.
Majhi said the ‘Double Engine’ government in Odisha will henceforth function as per BJP’s ‘Sankalpatra’ and fulfil the promises made to the people of the state. “Today, a double engine government has come into being in the state. Henceforth, it will work as per the ‘Sankalpatra’ that we have proposed for Odisha…Whoever does a good job, the party will definitely give them the CM post like I got today…The government will function properly. We are 100% sure…Our party will work to bring justice to the people of Odisha…And fulfil the promises made to the people of the state…” he said, while also expressing gratitude to the people of Odisha and Hindu deity Jagannath for giving him the opportunity to serve.
His name was brought up after Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Bhupendra Yadav, who were on the sidelines of the BJP parliamentary party meet, discussed with all senior leaders and newly elected MPs and state legislators. After the announcement, Singh congratulated Majhi and called him “young and dynamic”. Karyakarta” “.
“I am pleased to announce that Mohan Charan Manjhi has been unanimously elected as the leader of the Odisha BJP Parliamentary Party. He is a young and dynamic party member and as the new Chief Minister of Odisha, he will steer the state on the path of progress and prosperity. I offer my heartiest congratulations to him,” he said in a post on X.
He added: “It has also been decided to appoint two Deputy Chief Ministers to head the new state government. KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida will serve the state government as Deputy Chief Ministers. Congratulations!”
The meeting to select Majhi was held a week after results of state assembly elections were announced, in which the BJP won 78 seats, giving it a majority in the 147-seat House.
Majhi will be leading Odisha after 24 years of rule by BJD’s Naveen Patnaik. Several candidates had been floated for the chief minister’s post ever since Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan was made a minister in Narendra Modi’s third Union cabinet. But, as always, the BJP leadership had prepared a last-minute surprise.
The leading candidates were Suresh Pujari, who represents Brajarajinagar parliamentary constituency, Bharatiya Janata Party chief from the state Manmohan Samar and CAG of India Girish Murmu, who served as lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir and was Modi’s former principal secretary when he was chief minister of Gujarat.
But several party leaders were expecting a surprise after similar announcements were made in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “The BJP is a worker-led party, so anything is possible in Odisha,” said one party leader.
