Bhubaneswar: Ahead of his swearing-in ceremony as the 26th Governor of Odisha, Raghubar Das was greeted by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on his arrival at Raj Bhawan in Odisha capital on Monday.
Speaker Pramila Mallik, Chief Secretary P K Jena and DGP SK Bansal were also present.
Earlier in the day, Das had paid a visit to Jagannath Temple in Puri. He arrived at the temple accompanied by Puri collector Samarth Verma and SP Kanwar Vishal Singh after his train journey in the early hours. He was welcomed by MoS for Home TK Behera at the Singhadwar of the 12th-century shrine.
“I consider myself fortunate for having been given the opportunity to serve the people of Odisha. I sought the blessings of Lord Jagannath to empower me in my service towards the underprivileged. Development of the state is my top priority. The Raj Bhavan of Odisha will always be open to the people,” he told mediapersons after having darshan of the sibling deities.
Before his official swearing-in at 11.45 am on Tuesday, Das will also visit the Lingaraj Temple in Bhubaneswar. Several supporters from Jharkhand, as well as Das’ family members, are expected to attend the ceremony.
Das was appointed as the new Governor of Odisha by President Dropadi Murmu on October 18. Prior to this appointment, he was a national vice president of the BJP. He was also first non-tribal CM of Jharkhand from 2014 to 2019.
Das, who completed a degree in law after passing out from Jamshedpur Cooperative College, started his political career as an activist of the student movement launched by Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan in 1976-77. He was also jailed during emergency. He enrolled himself with the Janata Party in 1977 and joined the BJP after its launch three years later. In 2004, Das was appointed as Jharkhand state president of the BJP.
