Bhubaneswar: When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the name of Mohan Majhi as the next chief minister of Odisha, the residents of his ancestral village at Raikala in Keonjhar district erupted in joyous celebration.
Soon after the news broke on the TV screen, villagers gathered at his ancestral home, a tile-roofed house to savour the historic moment.
“We never expect that our Mohan Bhai will become the chief minister. He is our all-time friend. Our joy knew no bounds today. We hope our State would touch new heights under his leadership,” one of his villagers said.
Villagers were seen distributing sweets and bursting crackers to celebrate the moment.
Majhi was unanimously elected as the BJP legislature party chief at the meeting today.
Majhi was first elected to the Odisha Assembly from Keonjhar in 2000, and has represented it since then, save between 2009 and 2014, as the BJD repeatedly swept the state. He was re-elected in the elections, defeating the BJD’s Mina Majhi by 11,577 votes.
Starting his career as a teacher in Saraswati Sishu Mandir, managed by Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of the RSS, he later left the teaching profession for a formal political career, holding a sarpanch’s post from 1997 to 2000.
Majhi has also served as the Secretary of the BJP’s State Adivasi Morcha, and the Deputy Chief Whip from 2005 to 2009 during the BJD-BJP coalition government. He also served as the Chief Whip of the party in the last Assembly.
