From schoolteacher to Odisha Chief Minister: Mohan Majhi’s journey so far

Bhubaneswar: The BJP today announced Mohan Majhi as the new Chief Minister of Odisha. The four-time MLA was elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party at the Legislature party meeting held here.

The 15th Chief Minister of Odisha, is an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The 52-year-old BJP leader has been representing Keonjhar Assembly Constituency since 2000 in Odisha.

From a schoolteacher to the post of Chief Minister, the journey was not so smooth for the BJP leader. After completing LLB degree, he worked with Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir in Keonjhar district as a teacher.

Majhi started his political career in 1997 after being elected as the Sarpanch. He was appointed as the secretary of BJP’s State Adivasi Morcha in 1997 and remained in the post till date. This apart, he held the post of president of Yubajyoti Club, Raikala, and president of Baba Dhabeleswar Mahadev Temple Committee, Raikala. He was a member of Standing Committee of S.C. & S.T. under ORV Act, General Secretary, B.J.P. State ST Morcha.

He made his debut in Odisha Assembly after his victory on the BJP ticket in 2000 Assembly polls. He was elected to 12th Odisha Legislative Assembly garnering total 51,449 votes in his favour and defeating Congress’ Jagdish Nayak.

He retained the seat in 2004 Assembly polls with total 46,146 votes. He defeated Congress MLA candidate Madhav Sardar with a margin of 11,002 votes in the elections. The tribal leader won third time as the MLA from the constituency in 2019 Assembly polls with 72,760 votes. He was elected to 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly with total 87,815 votes in recently concluded 2024 Assembly elections.

During his two-decade long political career, the leader had to face defeat in the Assembly elections. He lost to BJD’s Subarna Naik and Abhiram Naik in 2009 and 2014 Assembly elections respectively.