Bhubaneswar : The BJP central leadership has sprung a surprise by picking  tribal leader Mohan Majhi as  the first chief minister of the party in Odisha. The name of Majhi, the MLA from Keonjhar Sadar, was announced after the end of the Bjp legislature party meeting here.  The meeting was overseen by two central observers defense minister Rajnath Singh and Bhupendra Yadav.

Patnagarh MLA K V sinhgdeo and first time MLA Pravati Parida have been made Deputy chief ministers.  The party has, thus, sought to strike a balance by making a tribal the chief minister while giving the responsibility of one deputy chief minister to an experienced person lime Singhdeo and choosing a woman as well.

Several names were doing the rounds for the chief minister’s post for the last few days with Singhdeo, Suresh Pujari and state party chief Manmohan Samal being front runners. The speculation about Dharmendra Pradhan had ended after he was included in the Modi cabinet.

The party has also kept in view an important factor like providing equal representation to different regions of the state. While Majhi hails from tribal dominated Keonjhar district Singhdeo comes from western Odisha and Parida from the coastal belt. The swearing-in ceremony will take place tomorrow at Janata Maidan with Prime Minister himself in attendance.  The Prime Minister is expected to hold a roadshow in Bhubaneswar. 

The first Bjp government is being formed in tne state following the defeat of Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal in the just concluded elections.  This was party’s first electoral defeat since 2000 and brought Patnaik ‘s 24 year reign to an end. The BJP has invited Patnaik to the swearing-in ceremony.