Firebrand tribal Mohan Majhi To Be Odisha’s First BJP CM
BHUBANESHWAR:A firebrand tribal leader Mohan Majhi will be Odisha’s first BJP CM. Majhi was on Tuesday picked by the saffron party leadership to become the BJP’s first Chief Minister in Odisha.
Tribal leader Mohan Majhi is known for his performance in the Odisha Assembly.
BJP has picked a relatively unknown face , four-time MLA and the party’s tribal face Mohan Manjhi as the new Chief Minister of Odisha after senior state leaders Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram were pulled into the Union government. The party has also picked two Deputies for Mr Manjhi -KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida.
The oath ceremony will be held tomorrow, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. PM Modi is expected to hold a roadshow in Bhubaneshwar on his way to the venue, the Janata Maidan.
Odisha CM-elect Majhi, who was chosen by the BJP at the legislature party meeting on June 11. Majhi, elected from the Keonjhar seat reserved for ST, will take oath at the swearing-in ceremony on June 12 that will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi The saffron party’s first leader for the state’s top job, he will take oath at the swearing-in ceremony on June 12.
His name came up after Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Bhupendra Yadav, who were the observes at the BJP legislature party meeting, discussed with all senior leaders and the newly elected MPs and MLAs. After the announcement, Singh congratulated Majhi and called him a “young and dynamic karyakarta“.
“Delighted to announce that Shri Mohan Charan Manjhi has been elected unanimously as the leader of Odisha BJP Legislature Party. He is a young and dynamic party karyakarta who will take the state forward on road to progress and prosperity as the new Chief Minister of Odisha. Many congratulations to him,” he said in a post on X.
He added: “Also, it has been decided that two Deputy Chief Ministers will be designated to head the new State Government.” Key leaders and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Jual Oram also attended the meeting held at the state BJP headquarters in Bhubaneshwar.
The meeting to select Majhi was held a week after the announcement of the assembly poll results. The BJP got a majority in the 147-member House by winning 78 seats. Majhi will lead Odisha after the 24-year rule of the BJD’s Naveen Patnaik. A number of names were in the running for the CM’s post after Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan became a minister in the third Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet. But, as usual, the BJP leadership threw a surprise at the last minute.
Top contenders were Suresh Pujari, who was elected from the Brajarajnagar assembly seat; Manmohan Samal, who is the state BJP president; and CAG of India Girish Murmu, who also served as the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir and Modi’s former principal secretary when he was the Gujarat CM.
However, several party leaders had also anticipated a surprise as the party made similar announcements in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. “Everything is possible in Odisha as the BJP is a worker-driven party,” said a senior party leader. Mr Majhi, a four-time MLA is an experienced politician and his public service and organisational skills worked in his favour in the race for the top post, sources indicated. The chief whip of the BJP in the previous assembly, he was the youngest of the frontrunners.
Mr Deo, a six-time MLA and an erstwhile royal from Patna (princely state), Bolangir, was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government for nine years till 2009, when the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal were in alliance.
Pravati Parida, 57, a first-time MLA, has been in the party for the last 28 years. She was chief of the state BJP women’s wing (2016-2022) and the state BJP Vice President (2022-2024).
Picking the next Chief Minister was a tricky move for the BJP, which is forming government in the coastal state for the first time after 24 years of Naveen Patnaik’s rule. The state, though, had reposed faith in the BJP, giving the party 78 of the 147 assembly seats. The BJP won 51 seats.
Tight security arrangements have been made for tomorrow’s oath ceremony. Several dignitaries, including union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, are expected to attend the function.
