BJP appoints Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav for electing next Odisha CM

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav as central observers for the appointment of the Chief Minister of Odisha. This decision was announced in an official release on Sunday by Arun Singh, the National General Secretary of BJP.

“The Parliamentary Board of the Bharatiya Janata Party has appointed Rajnath Singh, Union Minister, Government of India, and Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister, Government of India, as central observers for the election of the leader of the party’s legislative assembly in Odisha,” the release read.

Notably, Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav took oath as Cabinet Ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 9.

Earlier, BJP spokesperson and oath-taking ceremony in-charge, Dillip Mohanty on Sunday said that the swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Odisha will now be held on June 12 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the event.

“The oath-taking ceremony of the new Chief Minister of the newly-elected BJP Government in Odisha will now be held on June 12. PM Modi will be present for the oath ceremony,” said Mohanty.

Meanwhile, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and close aide of caretaker Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, VK Pandian on Sunday announced his retirement from active politics following the party’s defeat in Odisha assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Pandian, an IAS officer of the 2000 batch, has served as private secretary to Naveen Patnaik for over two decades. In 2023, he joined the BJD after taking voluntary retirement from the bureaucracy.

The Biju Janata Dal suffered a defeat in the Odisha assembly polls at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party, putting an end to the 24-year-old reign of Naveen Patnaik.

The Bharatiya Janata Party secured 78 seats in the 147-seat assembly. The BJD secured 51 seats, way behind the majority mark of 74 and the Indian National Congress secured 14 seats.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, also BJP performed well by securing 20 out of the 21 parliamentary seats in the state; the remaining one seat was won by Congress. (ANI)