The Bharatiya Janata Party scripted history by forming its first-ever government in Odisha and 52-year-old Mohan Charan Majhi, a four-time MLA from Keonjhar belonging to the Scheduled Tribe community, will be the new and 15th chief minister of the state. The BJP, which is forming the government on its own for the first time in Odisha, has decided to put a tribal leader at the helm of affairs. Along with Majhi, six-time Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and first-time MLA from Nimapara Pravati Parida will take oath as deputy chief ministers.
Majhi had started his career as a sarpanch from Keonjhar in the northern part of Odisha. He was first elected MLA in 2000 when there was an alliance between the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal. He won in 2004, lost the elections in 2009, and then triumphed again in 2019 and 2024. Majhi is a prominent adivasi face of the BJP. His clean image and strong voice were the factors that worked in his favour. He is known to participate actively in Odisha assembly debates, raising issues of the people, especially the alleged mining scam. Majhi’s political journey, which began as a sarpanch, has now led him to the chief minister’s post.
After Congress’s Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gamang in 1999, Odisha will have a tribal chief minister again in Majhi. Biswal served Odisha as chief minister in two stints, 1989 to 1990 and 1999 to 2000. This is the third time that Odisha will have a tribal chief minister
Along with Mohan Majhi, the BJP government in Odisha will have two deputy chief ministers in KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida. After Nandini Satpathy, the firebrand Congress chief minister who ruled Odisha between 1972 and 1976, the state will have a woman, not as its CM but deputy CM for the first time. And though Odisha has had a deputy chief minister before in Basant Biswal from 1995 to 1999, when the Congress ruled the state, this is the first time that it will have two deputy CMs.
The decision was taken after the 78-member BJP legislative party met and the announcement was made by defence minister Rajnath Singh, who along with Bhupendra Yadav was sent to Odisha as observers, after the legislative party elected its new leader. Additionally, Singh also informed that Odisha would have KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida as deputy CMs. Majhi was elected unanimously by the BJP legislative party.
Singh said, “I invited names for the post of the chief minister. It was KV Singh Deo who stood up and was the first to propose the name of Mohan Majhi. Along with him, Surma Padhi, Rabi Narayan Nayak, Laxman Bag, and Priviraj ji, Harichandan ji supported him. Apart from this, all MLAs expressed their support by clapping their hands. Mohan Majhi was elected as the leader of BJP legislative party unanimously.”
He further said, “After speaking with him (Majhi), the chief minister said that it would be good if the names of KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida were also announced. With the consent of the chief minister, we are announcing their names also.”
Thanking Lord Jagannath and the people of Odisha, Majhi said, “There is a change in the 24-year-old regime. The hopes and aspirations of the people and the BJP’s commitment to the development of Odisha will be fulfilled. We resolve to make Odisha the number one state in the country.”
Odisha’s tribal population is more than 22%, the third highest in the country. The BJP’s signal in Majhi, a tribal leader being made the chief minister, could not have been clearer, especially after it made another tribal person, Droupadi Murmu, the President of the country.
Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, a contender for the top job, who is now the deputy chief minister, is another big signal to western Odisha, the region that has rewarded the BJP handsomely. Dharmendra Pradhan won from Sambalpur and even outgoing CM Naveen Patnaik, contesting from his second seat in Kantabanji, also in western Odisha, lost to BJP’s Laxman Bag. So, for the first time, western Odisha will take centre stage in the state government where power has been dominated by coastal Odisha.
Deo brings to the table a wealth of experience spanning nearly three decades in Odisha politics. He was the BJP state president between 2013 and 2016. He was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government in alliance with the BJD, in charge of urban development, public enterprises, and industry in 2004, 2002, and 2000 respectively.
Pravati Parida, the first-time MLA from Nimapara in Puri district, is the BJP’s woman deputy chief minister. In a balancing act, the party has also decided to give representation to coastal Odisha. Since 1997, Parida has been a BJP worker at the ground level. She was the block vice president of the BJP and won from the constituency in 2024 after three attempts.
The BJP has rewarded its steadfast workers and leaders who stayed with the party through thick and thin. In the run-up to the 2024 elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to give Odisha a chief minister who would be the son or daughter of the state.
The BJP staked claim to form the government on Tuesday evening. The new cabinet is expected to take oath on Wednesday in Janata Maidan, a public ground, with PM Modi in attendance. Earlier, on the 11th, a BJP delegation led by Manmohan Samal, the state unit’s chief, visited Naveen Niwas to invite the former five-time chief minister Naveen Patnaik to attend the oath-taking ceremony.
The BJP will have to contend with a strong opposition in the state assembly with 51 MLAs from the BJD and 14 from the Congress. With 78 MLAs, the BJP’s strength is just four more than the majority mark of 74. The last time that the BJP was in power in Odisha was between 2000 and 2009 when it was in alliance with the BJD.
The three central ministers from the state, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram, and Ashwini Vaishnaw, were also present in the legislative party meeting.