Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday allocated portfolios to the newly-elected Council of Ministers, keeping the key ministries of home and finance with himself.
Majhi, who took oath on June 12, also kept the portfolios of general administration, water resources, planning and convergence, and information and public relations with himself. Majhi is heading the BJP’s first government in Odisha.
Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo has been given charge of agriculture and farmers’ empowerment, while Pravati Parida, also a deputy chief minister, will be in charge of women and child development, Mission Shakti and tourism.
Former state BJP chief Suresh Pujari will handle the revenue and disaster management ministries, while Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, the MLA from the Gopalpur Assembly seat, will be in charge of commerce and transport, and steel and mines.
The BJP won 78 out of Odisha’s 147 Assembly seats in the recently-concluded Assembly election. The Biju Janata Dal, which was in power in the state since March 2000, got 51 seats. The Congress won 14 seats. A party or coalition needs 74 seats to form government in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
A day after the result, Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik submitted his resignation as the chief minister to Governor Das in Bhubaneswar. Patnaik held the top post for over 24 years, becoming the second-longest-serving chief minister in India since Independence.
The Assembly polls in Odisha were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, which the BJP also swept in Odisha, winning 20 of 21 seats while the Congress secured just one.
Also read: How did the BJP sweep Odisha?
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