Power changes hands in India's Odisha and Andhra Pradesh states
NEW DELHI: The eastern Indian state of Odisha got a new chief minister on Wednesday (June 12) after the 24-year rule of Naveen Patnaik, the seasoned leader of the regional party Biju Janata Dal (BJD), ended, following the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory in the recent provincial assembly election.

BJP leader Mohan Charan Majhi, who belongs to a tribal community, was sworn in as the new Odisha chief minister for a five-year term at a ceremony in Bhubaneswar attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The party won a majority of 78 seats in the 147-member assembly.

Majhi, 52, is a four-time state legislator and comes from the mineral-rich region of Keonjhar.

In the adjoining southern state of Andhra Pradesh, political veteran and regional Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu took the oath as chief minister in Vijayawada.

Modi and Shah were present at the Andhra ceremony as well.

It will be 74-year-old Naidu's fourth chief ministerial stint.

His party scored a thumping victory in the state election against the outgoing chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).

The TDP has 135 members in the 175-member assembly while Reddy's party won only 11. - Bernama
India,Hyderabad,BJD,Andhra Pradesh,chief minister
NEW DELHI: The eastern Indian state of Odisha got a new chief minister on Wednesday (June 12) after the 24-year rule of Naveen Patnaik, the seasoned leader of the regional party Biju Janata Dal (BJD), ended, following the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory in the recent provincial assembly election.