Editor's Pick | Mohan Majhi, BJP’s tribal face, picked as Odisha CM

Mohan Charan Majhi, four-time MLA and tribal leader, will take the oath of office as Chief Minister of Odisha on Wednesday. The BJP on Tuesday staked claim to form a government in the State after the party’s MLAs-elect unanimously elected Mr. Majhi the BJP Legislature Party leader. This is the first time the BJP is forming a government in the State on its own after the saffron party’s arrival in Odisha in the mid-1980s. It won 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly. The party has received letters of support from three Independent MLAs. The Biju Janata Dal has won 51 seats and the Congress 14. One seat went to the CPI(M). The week-long speculation surrounding the BJP’s chief ministerial pick reached its pinnacle when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, central observers of the BJP, landed in Bhubaneswar in the afternoon. After hectic parleys with senior leaders including MPs and MLAs-elect, Mr. Singh announced Mr. Majhi’s name at the party office. The four-time MLA for Keonjhar, accompanied by Union Ministers and other party leaders, proceeded to the Raj Bhavan and met Governor Raghubar Das. Mr. Majhi was the BJP’s chief whip in the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly. Veteran BJP leader, K. V. Singh Deo, six-time MLA from Patnagarh, and Pravati Parida, first-time MLA from Nimapara, will be the two Deputy Chief Ministers in the BJP government. Prime Minister Modi will directly come from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon for the swearing-in scheduled at Janata Maidan at 5 p.m. Chief Ministers of several BJP-ruled States, Union ministers and the top BJP leadership are expected to attend. “A total of 4.5 crore people have voted BJP to power to bring transformation and fought corruption. I acknowledge their support. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is loved by all Odias, had exuded confidence that the government would change and the BJP would come to power. It has come true,” said the CM-designate. Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal along with other past presidents have invited outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to attend the oath-taking ceremony. Mr. Patnaik, 77, had been at the helm for 24 years and three months, and there are concerns about how the Biju Janata Dal will fare in the Opposition. Political analysts fear that sooner or later, the BJD is likely to face an exodus like the Bharat Rashtra Samiti in Telangana. Mr. Patnaik is expected to become the Leader of the Opposition in the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly. He is considered to be the only viable candidate, since the party has not groomed a strong second-rung leadership. In an editorial, The Hindu pointed out that the BJP emphasised Mr. Patnaik’s alleged frail health and attacked his protégé, the former bureaucrat-turned politician V.K. Pandian and his Tamil roots, who quit politics after the defeat. “A number of defections from the BJD to the BJP over the years also helped the BJP seize the initiative.” “The BJD’s policy of endorsing most of the BJP-led government’s measures, including controversial ones, and to play the role of a friendly party that was not part of the NDA backfired, just as it did with the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh,” the editorial noted. The Hindu’s Editorials Continuity and stability: On the Modi government’s new cabinet Facts in fiction: on stopping the release of the Hindi film, Hamare Baarah The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Which international men’s cricket team is nicknamed The Rhinos? Oman Zimbabwe Nepal Uganda To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 12 June 2024 [The Hindu logo] [EP Logo] Editor's Pick 12 June 2024 In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Mohan Majhi, BJP’s tribal face, picked as Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi, four-time MLA and[tribal leader]( will take the oath of office as Chief Minister of Odisha on Wednesday. The BJP on Tuesday staked claim to form a government in the State after the party’s MLAs-elect unanimously elected Mr. Majhi the BJP Legislature Party leader. This is the first time the BJP is forming a government in the State on its own after the saffron party’s arrival in Odisha in the mid-1980s. It won 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly. The party has received letters of support from three Independent MLAs. The Biju Janata Dal has won 51 seats and the Congress 14. One seat went to the CPI(M). The week-long speculation surrounding the BJP’s chief ministerial pick reached its pinnacle when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, central observers of the BJP, landed in Bhubaneswar in the afternoon. After hectic parleys with senior leaders including MPs and MLAs-elect, Mr. Singh announced Mr. Majhi’s name at the party office. The four-time MLA for Keonjhar, accompanied by Union Ministers and other party leaders, proceeded to the Raj Bhavan and met Governor Raghubar Das. Mr. Majhi was the BJP’s chief whip in the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly. Veteran BJP leader, K. V. Singh Deo, six-time MLA from Patnagarh, and Pravati Parida, first-time MLA from Nimapara, will be the two Deputy Chief Ministers in the BJP government. Prime Minister Modi will directly come from Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday afternoon for the swearing-in scheduled at Janata Maidan at 5 p.m. Chief Ministers of several BJP-ruled States, Union ministers and the top BJP leadership are expected to attend. “A total of 4.5 crore people have voted BJP to power to bring transformation and fought corruption. I acknowledge their support. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is loved by all Odias, had exuded confidence that the government would change and the BJP would come to power. It has come true,” said the CM-designate. Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal along with other past presidents have invited outgoing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik [to attend the oath-taking ceremony](. Mr. Patnaik, 77, had been at the helm for 24 years and three months, and there are concerns about how the Biju Janata Dal will fare in the Opposition. Political analysts fear that sooner or later, the BJD is likely to face an exodus like the Bharat Rashtra Samiti in Telangana. Mr. Patnaik is expected to become the Leader of the Opposition in the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly. He is considered to be the only viable candidate, since the party has not groomed a strong second-rung leadership.  In an[editorial]( The Hindu pointed out that the BJP emphasised Mr. Patnaik’s alleged frail health and attacked his protégé, the former bureaucrat-turned politician V.K. Pandian and his Tamil roots, who quit politics after the defeat. “A number of defections from the BJD to the BJP over the years also helped the BJP seize the initiative.” “The BJD’s policy of endorsing most of the BJP-led government’s measures, including controversial ones, and to play the role of a friendly party that was not part of the NDA backfired, just as it did with the YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh,” the editorial noted. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][Continuity and stability: On the Modi government’s new cabinet]( [Arrow][Facts in fiction: on stopping the release of the Hindi film, Hamare BaarahÂ]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Which international men’s cricket team is nicknamed The Rhinos? - Oman - Zimbabwe - Nepal - Uganda To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. 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