BHUBANESWAR: Odisha‘s chief minister-designate Mohan Charan Majhi has worn many hats – farmer, teacher in an RSS-run school, sarpanch, Adivasi rights advocate, and a crusader against the mining mafia. Being named BJP’s first CM in its new eastern frontier marks the culmination of the 52-year-old’s almost unheralded journey to political prominence.
The four-time Keonjhar MLA, who shares his Santhal roots with India’s first Adivasi Prez Droupadi Murmu, is seen as a strategic pick by BJP months ahead of the assembly elections in predominantly tribal Jharkhand.
Growing up at Raikala in Keonjhar Sadar region, Majhi showed early promise as a student and someone keen to take up a cause for his community. He studied law and taught for a while at RSS-run Saraswati Shisu Vidya Mandir before plunging into politics as an elected sarpanch from 1997 to 2000, when he became MLA for the first time.
As secretary of BJP’s Adivasi Morcha, Majhi quickly hit his straps and worked his way up the party ranks to become its chief whip in 2019. He previously had a stint as deputy chief whip when BJP was part of a coalition with BJD from 2005 to 2009.
On his return as Keonjhar MLA in 2019 after a decade since his last electoral victory in 2004, Majhi made headlines when he spoke in the assembly about being forced to spend several nights on a footpath due to delay in allotment of a govt quarter to him. Majhi told the then assembly speaker, S N Patro, that he couldn’t rent a house at short notice, and his mobile phone was stolen while he was asleep in the open.
In a quirk of circumstance, general administration department is now house-hunting for the CM-elect. Since outgoing CM Naveen Patnaik lived in his private residence in Bhubaneswar for past 24 years, the need to have a designated chief ministerial bungalow was never felt.
Majhi’s only brush with controversy came in Sept last year when former speaker Pramila Mallik suspended him along with Dalit legislator Mukesh Mahaling for allegedly throwing a fistful of dal at her in protest against an alleged dal procurement scam for mid-day school meals. He had contested the allegation.
In 2022, Majhi told the assembly that the lives of some MLAs were under threat from the mining mafia. The previous year, he had escaped unhurt when motorbike-borne assailants hurled crude bombs at his vehicle in Keonjhar. Majhi is married to Priyanka Marandi and the couple have two sons.
The four-time Keonjhar MLA, who shares his Santhal roots with India’s first Adivasi Prez Droupadi Murmu, is seen as a strategic pick by BJP months ahead of the assembly elections in predominantly tribal Jharkhand.
Growing up at Raikala in Keonjhar Sadar region, Majhi showed early promise as a student and someone keen to take up a cause for his community. He studied law and taught for a while at RSS-run Saraswati Shisu Vidya Mandir before plunging into politics as an elected sarpanch from 1997 to 2000, when he became MLA for the first time.
As secretary of BJP’s Adivasi Morcha, Majhi quickly hit his straps and worked his way up the party ranks to become its chief whip in 2019. He previously had a stint as deputy chief whip when BJP was part of a coalition with BJD from 2005 to 2009.
On his return as Keonjhar MLA in 2019 after a decade since his last electoral victory in 2004, Majhi made headlines when he spoke in the assembly about being forced to spend several nights on a footpath due to delay in allotment of a govt quarter to him. Majhi told the then assembly speaker, S N Patro, that he couldn’t rent a house at short notice, and his mobile phone was stolen while he was asleep in the open.
In a quirk of circumstance, general administration department is now house-hunting for the CM-elect. Since outgoing CM Naveen Patnaik lived in his private residence in Bhubaneswar for past 24 years, the need to have a designated chief ministerial bungalow was never felt.
Majhi’s only brush with controversy came in Sept last year when former speaker Pramila Mallik suspended him along with Dalit legislator Mukesh Mahaling for allegedly throwing a fistful of dal at her in protest against an alleged dal procurement scam for mid-day school meals. He had contested the allegation.
In 2022, Majhi told the assembly that the lives of some MLAs were under threat from the mining mafia. The previous year, he had escaped unhurt when motorbike-borne assailants hurled crude bombs at his vehicle in Keonjhar. Majhi is married to Priyanka Marandi and the couple have two sons.
