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 ceremony. However, Modi is unlikely to attend the function, party sources said.
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Apart from the chief minister's elder sister and noted writer Gita Mehta, around 7,000 dignitaries including captains of industries and some Padma awardees will attend the swearing in ceremony, sources said.
Prominent among the guests are eminent sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra, noted musician Prafulla Kar, danseuse Priyamanda Mohanty and industrialists Kumarmangalam Birla, Naveen Jindal, they said.
The ruling BJD has also invited women grass root leaders, whom Patnaik considered as the real "double engine" for growth of the state.
While BJD has won in 112 seats, BJP bagged 23 and Congress nine assembly seats. Independent and CPI(M) have secured one seat each.
Patnaik is likely to take oath of the office along with 21 members of the council of ministers.