The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday picked four-time MLA Mohan Charan Majhi as the new chief minister of Odisha. KV Singhdeo and Pravati Parida have been named as his deputies.

Majhi was announced as the leader of the BJP’s legislature party by defence minister Rajnath Singh.

Mohan Charan Majhi won the Keonjhar assembly seat in the just concluded Odisha assembly elections, defeating Biju Janata Dal’s Mina Majhi by 11,577 votes.

Mohan Charan Majhi’s name was announced days after the BJP trounced Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal by winning 78 out of 147 seats in the Odisha assembly.

The BJP, all set to form its maiden government in Odisha, has invited BJD president and outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled on June 12.