Patnaik visits Lord Jagannath temple, offer prayers

A day before taking oath as Chief Minister of Odisha for a fifth consecutive term, BJD president Naveen Patnaik Tuesday visited Shree Jagannath temple in Puri and sought blessings of the Lord.

"I prayed to Lord Jagannath for the people of Odisha before I take oath as chief minister tomorrow in Bhubaneswar," Patnaik told reporters outside the temple.

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) presented a "Khandua Pata" (Lord's cloth) to Patnaik.

The Biju Janata Dal, which secured 112 seat in the 147-member Odisha Assembly in the recently concluded elections, held along with Lok Sabha polls, has been in power in the state since 2000.

Though Patnaik in earlier four occasions (2000, 2004, 2009 and 2014) was sworn in at the Raj Bhavan, this is for the first time that he will be taking oath in a grand manner. Patnaik is scheduled to take oath at 10.30 am on Wednesday at Idco Exhibition Ground here.

Patnaik had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the swearing in ...