Bhubaneswar, June 12: Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony, Odisha Chief Minister-designate Mohan Charan Manjhi said that protecting Odisha's 'Asmita' (pride) will be the priority of the new government.

Four-time MLA Mohan Charan Majhi is set to be sworn in as Odisha's CM today evening. Two deputy chief ministers; first-time MLA Pravati Parida and six-time legislator Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo will also be sworn in today.

"The new government will take oath today. The first job after taking the oath is to work to protect Odisha's 'Asmita' (pride)," Majhi told reporters Wednesday.

"Our double engine government is coming will work for fulfilling Modi guarantees and to resolve the problems of marginalized people," he added.

Earlier in the day, Majhi along with his Deputy CM-designates KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida paid floral tributes to Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo, 'Utkalamani' Gopabandhu Das, Parala Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati and Ramachandra Mardaraj Deo in Bhubaneswar.

Later he visited Maitri Vihar in Bhabaneswar, where he met members of Santal community (one of the tribal communities).

The community members also welcomed Odisha CM-designate Majhi, Deputy Chief Ministers-designate KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida in their traditional way by washing their feet there. "...I was welcomed by them ( members of a tribal community) as per the tradition. We have not left behind our traditions," Majhi said while speaking to media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took oath as the PM for a third consecutive term last week, will also attend the ceremony in Odisha today.

Tight security arrangements are in place for the swearing-in ceremony. "We have made full security arrangements. We have two terminals, from Terminal 1 dignitaries are coming and from Terminal 2 the Prime Minister will arrive. There are a total of 12 guests including the PM, out of which 9 are CMs and 3 are central ministers...The force is ready...Separate arrangements have been made for the Prime Minister and other dignitaries..." SP Berhampur Sarthak Sarangi told ANI.

Deputy CM-designate Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo that the BJP government will start the work from 'point zero' and the government will start working to fulfill its promises soon after swearing in.

He also reaffirmed Prime Minister Modi's promise that Odisha will become the number 1 state in the next five years.

"Our work starts from point zero. The moment we finish our oath; we will start working on the promises made to the people through our election manifesto. We had gone to the people seeking their blessing and they have been kind to give us the opportunity of coming to the govt for the next 5 years," Deo told ANI.

"PM Modi made the commitment that he is going to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Odisha CM. PM Modi has also said that Odisha will become the number 1 state in the next 5 years...Outgoing CM Naveen Patnaik has also consented to be present at the swearing-in ceremony," he added.

Briefing about security arrangements ahead of Odisha CM's swearing-in ceremony, DCP Bhubaneswar Prateek Singh says,

"We have made the security arrangements for the movement of the CM designate. Wherever he plans to go, local police stations of all the places have been alerted... We have given dedicated security and cavalcade arrangements for all the VIPs. The control room is monitoring their movement... Till now we have engaged around 70 platoon forces for the entire arrangement and everything is moving smoothly," the Bhubaneshwar DCP said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar at 2:30 pm and proceed to Raj Bhavan from the airport. He will later attend the oath-taking ceremony at Janata Maidan at 5 pm. "The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 5:00 pm," Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal said.

Majhi (52), belongs to the Santali tribe and hails from the state's Keonjhar district. He was elected leader of the BJP legislature party in Odisha Tuesday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made the announcement meeting newly-elected BJP MLAs here.

Beginning his career as a sarpanch from 1997-2000, Majhi was elected to the state assembly for the first time in 2000 from Keonjhar. He was re-elected in 2004. From 2005 to 09, he was the government deputy chief whip in the BJD-BJP coalition government. He was again elected as an MLA in 2019. In the recent polls, Majhi retained the seat by defeating BJD's Mina Majhi by 11,577 votes.

BJP will form its first government in Odisha after getting a majority in the assembly polls which were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav were in the state capital as the party's central observers for the meeting of MLAs yesterday.

The BJP won 78 of 147 seats in the Odisha assembly.

(ANI)

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