Tribal leader and four-time MLA from Keonjhar Mohan Charan Majhi will be the new chief minister of Odisha, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to power for the first time, it was announced today.

Following a meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs at the party headquarters in Bhubaneshwar, defence minister Rajnath Singh declared that 52-year-old Majhi had been unanimously elected as the leader of the legislature party, paving the way for him to become the CM.

As Majhi’s name was proposed for the CM’s post, legislators Surama Padhi, Laxman Bag, Rabinarayan Nayak, and Prithiviraj Harichandan seconded the proposal while other MLAs showed their support.

“Delighted to announce that Shri Mohan Charan Majhi 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,” Rajnath Singh posted on X.

Majhi was first elected to the Odisha assembly from Keonjhar in 2000, and has represented it since then, save between 2009-14, as the Biju Janata Dal of Naveen Patnaik repeatedly swept the state.

Starting his career as a teacher in Saraswati Sishu Mandir, managed by Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Majhi later left the teaching profession for a formal political career as a sarpanch from 1997 to 2000.

Majhi has also served as the secretary of the BJP’s state adivasi morcha, 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.

The BJP has also announced the erstwhile Balangir royal family scion and Patnagarh MLA Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Nimapara MLA Pravati Parida as the new deputy chief ministers.

Majhi, along with his council of ministers, are scheduled to take oath at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneshwar on June 12 at 4.45 pm.

(This story was taken from a syndicated feed, and edited only for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital staff)