Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time MLA from the Keonjhar assembly constituency, on 12 June 2024 became the 15th chief minister of Odisha.
Governor Raghubar Das administered the oath of office to Majhi at a swearing-in ceremony at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and other central ministers. Outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik was also present on the occasion.
Majhi earns the distinction of being the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister of Odisha. He is also the third tribal chief minister of the state after Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gamang.
Two deputy chief ministers – KV Singh Deo and Prabhati Parida – also took oath of office. Singh Deo is a six-time MLA from Patnagarh assembly constituency while Parida has become an MLA for the first time after winning from Nimapara assembly constituency.
Along with Majhi,Singh Deo and Parida, 16 BJP MLAs were sworn in as new ministers – 11 as cabinet ministers and five as minister of states. The cabinet ministers are: Suresh Pujari, Rabinarayan Naik, Nityananda Gond, Krushna Chandra Patra, Prithiviraj Harichandan, Dr Mukesh Mahaling, Bibhuti Bhushan Jena and Krushna Chandra Mohapatra.
The ministers of state (with independent charges) are: Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia, Surjabanshi Suraj, Pradeep Balasamanta, Gokula Chandra Mallick and Sampad Kumar Swain.
Modi came to Bhubaneswar from Hyderabad where he attended the swearing in ceremony of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu.