PURI: In the early hours of Monday, Raghubar Das, the governor-designate of Odisha, arrived at Puri Railway Station, accompanied by his family and a group of 80 close relatives, on board the Purushottam Express. He was accorded a warm reception by minister Niranjan Pujari, district magistrate Samarth Verma, and superintendent of police K. Vishal Singh. He was then escorted to Puri Raj Bhavan.
Around 11 a.m., Das and his entourage made their way to the Srimandir where they were welcomed by the temple’s chief administrator, Ranjan Kumar Das at the temple’s entrance. Also in attendance were BJP state president Manmohan Samal and local MLA Jayant Kumar Sarangi.
Inside the temple, Raghubar Das and his family members had a close darshan of Lord Jagannath and his siblings seated on the Ratnasinhasan. They also offered obeisance at the temples of Mahalakshmi, Vimala, Hanuman, and Biswanath, within the Srimandir premises. As a gesture of goodwill, the temple administration presented them with the holy ‘Khandua cloth’ of the deity.
Speaking with the media, Das expressed his condolences for the victims of the AP train accident and shared his prayers for the well-being of the people. He pledged to keep his doors open for the poor and needy, emphasising his dedication to the development of Odisha. “Development of Odisha will be my priority,” he affirmed.
Das returned to Raj Bhavan and later departed for Bhubaneswar by road, ready to assume his new responsibilities as Odisha’s Governor after the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.
CM welcomes Guv-designate
BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik welcomed Governor-designate Raghubar Das at the Raj Bhavan here after his arrival to Odisha. “Look forward to working with him for the sustained development of the state and welfare of people,” he said. Speaker of the Odisha Assembly Pramila Mallik, Chief Secretary PK Jena and Director General of Police (DGP) Sunil Bansal also welcomed him at the Raj Bhawan.