Mohan Charan Majhi, BJP's tribal leader to take oath as Odisha Chief Minister today; PM Modi to attend ceremony

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 12 (ANI): Four-time MLA Mohan Charan Majhi is set to be sworn in as the BJP's first Chief Minister in Odisha on Wednesday evening.
Two deputy chief ministers-first-time MLA Pravati Parida and six-time legislator Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo will also be sworn in today.
Today's swearing-in ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was himself sworn in as PM for a third consecutive term last week.
Tight security arrangements are in place for the swearing-in ceremony.
Earlier this morning, Majhi along with his Deputy CMs-designate KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida paid floral tributes to Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo, 'Utkalamani' Gopabandhu Das, Parala Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati and Ramachandra Mardaraj Deo in Bhubaneswar.
Majhi 52, who belongs to the Santali tribe and hails from the state's Keonjhar district was elected leader of BJP legislature party in Odisha at a meeting held yesterday. The decision was announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh after the meeting of the party's newly-elected MLAs here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar at 2:30 pm and proceed to Raj Bhavan from the airport. He will later attend the oath-taking ceremony at Janata Maidan at 5 pm.
"The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 5:00 pm," Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal said.
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.
Hours after being named as the new chief minister of Odisha, Majhi expressed gratitude to the people of Odisha and asserted that he will work in line with PM Modi's vision to develop the state in the next five years.
Speaking with ANI, Majhi said, "There has been a struggle of 25 years and now we have come to power. I would like to express my gratitude to Lord Jagannath and also thank the people of Odisha. I will play my role and fulfil my responsibility."

Further, Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo said, "It took us 25 years to reach here... Now we do not have to just sit, We have to deliver the issues with which we went to the people and serve justice... PM Modi does what he says. And that is the reason that the people of Odisha voted for a double-engine government..."

BJP will form its first government in Odisha after getting a majority in the assembly polls which were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav were in the state capital as the party's central observers for the meeting of MLAs yesterday.
The BJP won 78 of 147 seats in the Odisha assembly. (ANI)