BJP's tribal leader Mohan Charan Majhi.
Credit: X/@mohanmajhi_BJP
Emerging victorious by ending BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik's more than two decades rule, BJP's Mohan Charan Majhi has been selected as Odisha's new chief minister.
Majhi fought from Keonjhar assembly constituency and defeated Mina Majhi of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) by 11,577 votes.
Though, Mohan Charan Majhi might be new to chief ministerial position, he has a retained a grip on Keonjhar seat by defeating candidates from other parties in four assembly elections i.e. 2000, 2004, 2019 and 2024.
In 2019, he defeated BJD's Madhaba Sardar and won the assembly polls by 72,760 votes while Sardar managed to get 71,636.
Majhi's political career commenced in 1997 when he was elected as his village head (Sarpanch). In 2000, he went on to win the Keonjhar seat while fighting on a BJP ticket. According to reports, the first time Majhi won the Keonjhar seat, it was by defeating Congress' Jagdish Naik and winning 51,449 votes.
In 2004, Majhi retained his grip on the seat by defeating Madhab Sardar from BJD and receiving 46,146 votes.
However, he lost the seat in 2009 and 2014 assembly elections. In 2009, he lost to BJD's Subarna Naik, cornering only 29,202 votes in total.
In 2014, Majhi lost to BJD's Abhiram Naik. He could get only 47,283 votes.
Prior to his election as MLA, he was also the secretary of the BJP's Adivasi Morcha.
In 2019, Majhi was appointed as the opposition chief whip and helped his party by taking on the BJD on many issues of import.
On Tuesday, Union minister Rajnath Singh announced that Majhi has been selected as the Odisha Chief Minister. He also said K V Singh Deo and Pravati Parida have been made deputy chief ministers.
Majhi's swearing-in will take place on Wednesday. The ceremony will be held in Janata Maidan.
During the assembly elections, the BJP managed to emerge victorious and end BJD's 24-year-rule by getting 78 out of the 147 assembly seats.
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