Bhubaneshwar, July 11: 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 with a clear mandate in assembly elections, ending the 24-year stint of BJD.

Following a meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs at the party headquarters here on Tuesday, 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 Chief Minister.

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

Hailing from Raikala village in the tribal-dominated and mineral-rich Keonjhar district, CM-designate Majhi started his political career as a Sarpanch from 1997 to 2000. He has been elected to the Odisha assembly from Keonjhar on four occasions – 2000, 2004, 2019 and 2024.

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.

In the 2024 assembly elections, Majhi retained the Keonjhar seat by defeating BJD’s Mina Majhi.

Majhi will be the third tribal Chief Minister of Odisha after Congress' Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gamang.

In his first reaction after he was named the CM, Majhi said: “Due to the blessings of Lord Jagannath, the BJP achieved majority in Odisha and is going to form the government in the state. I would like to thank the 4.5 crore Odias who voted for change.”

The Tribal leader also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, central observers Rajnath Singh and Bhupender Yadav, and state BJP chief Manmohan Samal for ensuring the formation of the first BJP government in Odisha

Majhi also asserted that the BJP will honour the trust of the people of Odisha.

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.

A delegation of BJP MLAs led by CM-designate Majhi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Ashwini Vaishnaw met Governor Raghubar Das and gave him the list of 78 BJP MLAs and the letters of support from three other independent MLAs.

Majhi, along with his Council of Ministers, are scheduled to take oath at Janata Maidan here on Wednesday at 4.45 PM, party sources said.

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