Meet Mohan Charan Majhi, BJP's tribal pick to lead Odisha

Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar, who was chief whip of the BJP legislative party and also a tribal face, was the frontrunner for the chief minister's position.

Giving primacy to tribal and caste equations, the Bharatiya Janata Party today named Mohan Charan Majhi as the new chief minister of Odisha. Majhi is a strong tribal voice in Odisha and is known for his organisational skills.

Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar, who was chief whip of the BJP legislative party and also a tribal face, was the frontrunner for the chief minister's position. Prabhati Parida and KV Sing Deo will be deputy chief ministers of the state

BJP won the assembly elections, bagging 74 seats in the 147-member House, and routed the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government that ruled the state for 24 years.

The party leadership had sent defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav as its observers to the Odisha capital for the crucial BJP Legislature Party meeting.

Mohan Charan Majhi won the Keonjhar seat with a margin of around 87,815 votes. He defeated BJD's Mina Majhi from the constituency.

He was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly from Keonjhar in the 2019 Odisha Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He also represented the Keonjhar twice during the years 2000 to 2009. In 2024 Assembly elections, BJP leader Mohan Charan Majhi won the Keonjhar Assembly constituency in Odisha by defeating Biju Janata Dal's (BJD) Mina Majhi with a margin of 11,577 votes.

The BJP's Laxman Bag defeated Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Naveen Patnaik after a 24-year-long run. Their campaign ran on the promise of brining back ‘Odia Asmita’ (Odia pride) back to the state.