Bhubaneswar: Odisha BJP President, Manmohan Samal, said on Wednesday that the party's Parliamentary Board would soon decide regarding the state's chief minister.

Samal also reiterated the BJP’s poll promise that only an Odia would be made the chief minister of Odisha.

Speaking to media persons Samal said, “The Parliamentary Board will decide soon and an Odia will take oath as the chief minister on June 10 as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will take one or two more days to decide.”

During the poll campaign, PM Modi had assured that a son of the soil, who could understand and speak Odia language, would be chosen by the BJP to helm the affairs of the state.

The names of several senior leaders like Dharmendra Pradhan, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Baijayant Panda are doing the rounds for the top post.

The BJP had ruled the state as an alliance partner of the BJD in 2000 and 2004 and this is the first time that the party will form the government on its own in Odisha.

Samal also declared that many welfare schemes of the previous government would be stopped and replaced by central schemes.

The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, a flagship programme of the previous BJD government, would be replaced by the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

He added that work to fulfil the poll promises of the BJP would begin soon after the oath taking ceremony.

He said the issue of opening the Puri Jagannath Temple treasury and the gates of Shree Mandir would be sorted out soon.

(IANS)