BJP appoints Rajnath, Bhupendra Yadav to oversee selection of new Odisha CM

The BJP has appointed Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Bhupendra Yadav to oversee selection of the new chief minister of Odisha, a senior leader said on Monday.

The saffron party on June 4 secured a majority by winning 78 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly. However, the party is yet to choose a leader who will be at the helm of the state.

According to Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, the BJP's Odisha in-charge, the legislature party meeting will be held on Tuesday and the new government will take oath on June 12.

Experienced leaders led by newly-appointed observers Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav will hold a discussion with the legislators, MLA-elect Suresh Pujari, told reporters on his return from New Delhi on Monday.

While the chance of senior Odisha MP Dharmendra Pradhan becoming the next chief minister of the state seems bleak after his induction into the Modi 3.0 government, the focus is now on Brajarajnagar MLA-elect Suresh Pujari, who returned from New Delhi on Monday.

Besides Pujari, state BJP president Manmohan Samal, KV Singh and Mohan Majhi are also in the race for the chief minister's post.

The party has proposed to conduct a road show of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state capital before the swearing-in ceremony on June 12.

The BJP also bagged 20 of 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.