Mohan Charan Majhi, a tribal leader, will take oath as the next chief minister of Odisha on Wednesday, June 12. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar at 5 pm.
Along with Mohan Charan Majhi, his two deputy chief ministers, first-time MLA Pravati Parida and six-time legislator Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, will also be sworn in. Meanwhile, names of more than a dozen senior and young BJP legislators are doing the rounds as probable ministers.
List of probable cabinet ministers in Odisha
Senior leaders such as Jayanarayan Mishra, Suresh Pujari, Rabinarayan Naik, Laxman Bag, Surama Padhy, and Bhaskar Madhei are being speculated for cabinet berths. All except Bag have been elected to the state assembly at least twice. Notably, Bag is likely to be inducted into the cabinet since he defeated BJD president and outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik from the Kantabanji assembly constituency.
Other names including Babu Singh, Irasis Achaharya, Sanjali Murmu, Satrughan Jena, Nabin Kumar Jain, Saroj Kumar Pradhan, Durga Prasan Nayak, Pradyumna Kumar Nayak, Pradeep Bal Samanta (Sukinda), Mukesh Mahaling, Nityananda Gond and Suryabanshi Suraj, are also in the fray for the cabinet berths, reported news agency PTI.
Reportedly, Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan’s son Prithiviraj Harichandan may also be inducted into the Odisha cabinet.
The Odisha assembly has a strength of 22 council of ministers, including the chief minister.
The BJP ended the 24-year rule of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Naveen Patnaik in Odisha by winning a majority in the assembly polls, which were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP won 78 of 147 seats in the Odisha assembly. The BJD secured 51 seats, way behind the majority mark of 74, and the Congress secured 14 seats.
(With inputs from agencies)
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