BJP picks four-time MLA and tribal leader Mohan Charan Manjhi to be Odisha's chief minister

Senior state leaders Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram have been inducted into the Union government. The party has also picked two Deputies for Manjhi- KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida.

The oath ceremony will be held on Wednesday and will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

PM Modi is expected to hold a roadshow in Bhubaneswar on his way to the venue of the ceremony, the Janata Maidan.

Majhi, 52, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar, is an experienced politician, and his public service, as well as organisational skills, worked in his favour in the race for the top post.

As the chief whip of the BJP in the previous assembly, he was the youngest of the frontrunners.

Meanwhile, KV Singh Deo is a six-time MLA and an erstwhile royal from Patna (princely state), Bolangir. He 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 is forming a government in the coastal state for the first time after 24 years of Naveen Patnaik's rule. The state has reposed faith in the BJP, giving the party 78 of the 147 assembly seats. Naveen Patnaik's BJD won 51 seats. 

The BJP legislature party picked the names this evening under the eyes of Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Bhupendra Yadav, who were sent as observers by the Central leadership.