Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday travelled like a common man and took a regular flight to Chandigarh from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar.
This despite the fact that two special flights were arranged for the CM, who is undertaking a four-day visit to Haryana and Maharashtra. While some reports suggested that it was an attempt to curtail unnecessary expenditure, others signalled at a brand building experience for Majhi, who has been making efforts to establish his leadership within BJP and in the state after unexpectedly being chosen by his party as the Chief Minister in June, amid obvious comparison with his predecessor Naveen Patnaik, who continues to hold sway over the people of Odisha having ruled the state for 24 years.
The former CM also took regular commercial flights while in power, and used special aircraft only when top official team accompanied him for special meetings.
According to official sources, a special flight, Legacy 650, was booked for CM Majhi at the cost of Rs 91.22 lakh for three days. Since the price was high, the state government was mulling to hire a Falcon 200 for Rs 78.55 lakh. Majhi, however, decided to board a regular commercial flight, to cut down on government expenditure, in a bid to live up to his promise to serve the state as ‘people’s CM’.
The CM has been asserting that his is the government of the people, in an oblique attempt to slam the ‘bureaucratic approach’ during the preceding BJD regime.
Majhi and his wife, Priyanka, flew on a Vistara flight to Delhi from where he will take a connecting flight to Chandigarh.
He is scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Nayab Singh Saini as Haryana CM for the second term at Panchkula on October 17 and a meeting of chief ministers of NDA-ruled states later that evening. He will also participate in the ‘Investors Conference’ in Mumbai on October 18-19.
Also Read: Odisha CM Mohan Majhi’s 4-Day Visit To Haryana & Maharashtra Begins Today
Apart from Majhi, the two deputy CMs, K V Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, are also scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Saini.
