Mohan Charan Majhi took oath as the chief minister of Odisha today in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many other central ministers, including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and party President JP Nadda, among other dignitaries.

Apart from Majhi, two deputy CMs also took the oath of office - Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida - during a grand ceremony at the Janata Maidan in state capital Bhubaneswar.

Naveen Patnaik, who was the chief minister of Odisha for 24 years before the BJD lost power to the BJP, was also present on the stage, and extended his greetings and good wishes to the new government.

Notably, this is the first time the BJP came to power in the eastern state by unseating the dominant Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the assembly polls.

The chief ministers of many BJP-ruled states also attended the swearing-in ceremony, including Eknath Shinde, Pramod Sawant, and Mohan Yadav, among others.

Following a meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs at the party headquarters in Bhubaneshwar on June 11, defence minister Rajnath Singh declared that 52-year-old Majhi had been unanimously elected as the leader of the legislature party, paving the way for him to become the CM.

As Majhi’s name was proposed for the CM’s post, legislators Surama Padhi, Laxman Bag, Rabinarayan Nayak, and Prithiviraj Harichandan seconded the proposal while other MLAs showed their support.

Majhi was first elected to the Odisha assembly from Keonjhar in 2000, and has represented it since then, save between 2009-14, as the BJD of Naveen Patnaik repeatedly swept the state.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)