NEW DELHI: Mohan Charan Majhi, the Chief Minister-designate of Odisha, along with State BJP President Manmohan Samal, met with outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday, June 12, to personally invite him to the oath-taking ceremony of the new Odisha government. The meeting took place at Naveen Niwas, Patnaik’s residence.
Majhi, who is set to be the new chief minister if the state said in a media statement post his meeting,”The oath-taking ceremony of the new Odisha government is scheduled for today. I had come here to invite the Former CM Naveen Patnaik to the ceremony. I requested him to come. I also requested him to give his blessings. He said that he will be joining the ceremony and blessing me from the podium.”
This meeting highlights a moment of political civility and respect between the incoming and outgoing administrations. Naveen Patnaik, who has served as the Chief Minister of Odisha for over two decades, expressed his willingness to attend the ceremony, marking a smooth transition of power in the state.
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The day before, a five-member delegation from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by state president Manmohan Samal, also visited Naveen Niwas to extend an official invitation to Patnaik.
On June 4, the BJP secured a majority by winning 78 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly. Initially, names such as Dharmendra Pradhan, Baijayant Jai Panda, and Sambit Patra were considered for the top post. However, the BJP decided not to send its MPs to the state, as it does not have a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha.
In a show of gratitude, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to hold a 1.5 km-long roadshow before reaching the swearing-in venue to thank the people for giving the BJP its first full majority in the state. The BJP ended the five-term reign of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, which won only 51 seats. In the simultaneous Lok Sabha polls, the BJP also bagged 20 out of 21 seats in the state.