June 12th 2024.
Mohan Majhi, a tribal leader hailing from the Santali community, has made an incredible political journey. From being the sarpanch of a gram panchayat in the underdeveloped and tribal-dominated district of Keonjhar, he has now become the first-ever BJP Chief Minister of Odisha.
However, as he takes on this new role, Majhi is faced with several challenges. Not only is he met with opposition from both the Biju Janata Dal and Congress parties, but he also has the responsibility of managing the state's administration.
Majhi, who holds a degree in law and was previously a member of the RSS during his college days, began his political career as a sarpanch. He served a full term from 1992 to 1997 before becoming a teacher at Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir. In 2000, he was chosen by the Bharatiya Janata Party as their candidate for the Keonjhar seat, in alliance with the BJD.
Since then, Majhi has been on a steady rise, successfully retaining his seat in the 2004 elections. Though he faced defeat in the following elections of 2009 and 2014, he continued to work for the welfare of his constituency, eventually leading to his victory in the 2019 and 2024 elections.
During his time as a member of the Assembly, Majhi served as the Opposition Deputy Chief Whip from 2005 to 2009 and then as the Opposition Chief Whip from 2019 to 2024. He played a crucial role in bringing several issues to light that brought embarrassment to the BJD government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Majhi now joins the ranks of Hemananda Biswal and Giridhar Gomango, who were both tribal leaders from the Congress party and served as Chief Ministers of Odisha for brief periods. They were appointed by the Congress High Command to replace Chief Minister JB Patnaik, who was asked to step down twice in the past.
Political experts have noted that Majhi's biggest challenge as Chief Minister will be facing the strong opposition from the BJD, which holds a majority of 51 members in the Assembly, as well as the Congress party with 14 members and a sole member from the CPM. This will be the first time since 2000 that the BJD, which has been in power for five consecutive terms until 2024, will have to deal with such a formidable opposition.
In the previous years, the BJD faced a much weaker opposition from the Congress, which had a strength of 26 and 38 members respectively in the 147-member house. From 2009 to 2024, the ruling party faced opposition from the BJP and Congress, who together had less than 33 members.
But in the coming years, Majhi will have to navigate the challenges posed by a strong opposition, with 51 members from the BJD, a party that has been in power for a long 24 years, along with 14 Congress members and one CPM member in the Assembly. He will have to effectively manage the state administration and fulfill the promises made by his party during their election campaign.
One of the main promises made by the BJP was to make Odisha the number one state in the country, as guaranteed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party also pledged to launch the Subhadra Yojana, which would provide a cash voucher of Rs. 50,000 to every woman, which could be redeemed over the course of two years, creating 25 lakh "pati didis" (wealthy sisters) in the state.
Other promises include a minimum support price of Rs. 3,100 per quintal for paddy, filling 1.5 lakh vacant government posts, and replacing the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana with the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
The BJP also vowed to open all four gates of the Sri Jagannath temple for devotees and make the probe commission report on the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar of the temple public, while also protecting the state's Odia pride, culture, and heritage.
With these promises, Majhi now has the responsibility to fulfill the expectations of the people and lead Odisha towards progress and development.
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