Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 12: A BJP ministry headed by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) government with Mr N Chandrababu Naidu as the chief minister were installed in the office in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh respectively on Wednesday.
The Prime Minster Narendra Modi attended both the swearing-in ceremonies. Mr Naidu’s swearing-in was held at Kesarapalle close to Gannavaram near Vijayawada in the morning while Mr Majhi’s oath-taking ceremony was held in Odisha’s capital city of Bhubaneswar in the evening.
Mohan Charan Majhi — the first BJP Chief Minister in Odisha — took oath with his two deputies, KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, in a grand ceremony that announced the party’s arrival in eastern India. Besides a number of Union ministers and other dignitaries, also attending the event was the outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the Biju Janata Dal chief who headed the state for 24 years. Mr Majhi had driven to his residence last evening and invited him for today’s event.
Mr Majhi, 52, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar and the party’s tribal face, is an experienced politician and his public service and organisational skills worked in his favour in the race for the top post, sources have indicated. The chief whip of the BJP in the previous assembly, he was the youngest of the front-runners.
His deputy, Mr Deo, is a six-time MLA and an erstwhile royal from Patna (princely state), Bolangir, and was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government for nine years till 2009, when the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal were in alliance.
Pravati Parida, 57, a first-time MLA, has been in the party for the last 28 years. She was chief of the state BJP women’s wing (2016-2022) and the state BJP Vice President (2022-2024). The BJP, which had been trying to break into the eastern India, after its successful venture in the northeast, had stepped into the breach caused by allegations of corruption at the local levels during the BJD government, promising to cater to the aspirations of the new generation and appealing to the Odiya asmita.
In Andhra Pradesh, the TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu became the chief minister for the fourth time after his party scored a thumping win in the Assembly polls held alongside the general election. Twenty-four members of his cabinet also took the oath. Besides Mr Mod, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief and Health Minister JP Nadda, and the former vice-president Venkaiah Naidu attended the ceremony.
Besides Mr Naidu, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan took the oath and is likely to be the Deputy Chief Minister. An NDA ally, Jana Sena won 21 seats in the Assembly polls. Nara Lokesh, TDP leader and Mr Naidu’s son, also took the oath along with 22 others. Mr Naidu’s TDP is among the key allies whose support helped the BJP form the government this time, despite falling short of the majority mark of 272. In the Modi 3.0 cabinet, TDP has got a cabinet minister berth and a Minister of State post. Mr Naidu has pledged to firmly back the NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi.
The NDA alliance comprising TDP, Jana Sena and BJP won 164 seats in the 175-member Assembly this time. The alliance also swept the Lok Sabha election, winning 21 of Andhra’s 25 seats and decimating the incumbent YSR Congress Party.