Bhubaneswar, April 29: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today joined the popular photo-sharing app Instagram and invited people to connect with him there.

The tech-savvy Naveen already has a Twitter handle and Facebook account. From now, he can be followed on Instagram account @Naveen_Odisha as well.

The first Instgram post of the chief minister on the auspicious occasion of Akshya Tritiya hailed Lord Jagannath. "Invite my friends to connect on @instagram now, and take forward our engagement with your views & suggestions https://www.instagram.com/naveen_odisha/," Patnaik tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Union minister Shashi Tharoor are some high-profile politicians who have madee their presence felt on Instagram. Naveen today posted a picture of rath yatra on Instagram and wished everyone with a "Jai Jagannath" on the occasion of Akshay Tritiya.

Within four hours of opening the account, Naveen had 1,300 followers and counting. His first post had more than 470 likes and 100 comments.

In a press note, the chief minister's office today said: "The platform will provide an opportunity for interacting through suggestions and views of participants. This is an extension of the ongoing efforts of the chief minister for reaching out to all sections of the society, particularly the youths of Odisha."

On May, 2016, Naveen had opened an account on Facebook and launched an official page titled "Naveen Odisha". He had opened the account posting "Jai Jagannath".

The page now has nearly 47,000 likes. Naveen had joined Twitter in September 2015. There, too, "Jai Jagannath" was his first message.

Today, Naveen tweeted congratulating sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik for winning jury prize gold medal in 10th world sand sculptures championship in Moscow. "You indeed make #Odisha proud," Naveen wrote.