Why BJP picked Mohan Majhi as Odisha CM over others? Answer might be in Jharkhand

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 11, 2024 20:29 IST

Mohan Charan Majhi was a surprise choice by the BJP as its first Chief Minister in Odisha. There were over half-a-dozen names being discussed as probable CMs but Majhi didn't feature in many of those discussions. But how did Mohan Majhi emerge as the Chief Minister, leaving other popular and discussed BJP candidates behind?

Majhi is a non-controversial politician with a strong RSS connection. A four-time BJP MLA, he has helped the party strategise the Odisha campaign. He ticks all the boxes, but there could be something else that might have tipped the scales in his favour.

"Mohan Charan Majhi is a strong and firebrand tribal leader from mineral-rich Kendujhar district. He is a very eligible candidate for the CM's post," senior journalist and political analyst Jatindra Dash tells IndiaToday.In.

That is the most important marker that seems to have worked in his favour – that Mohan Charan is a tribal and Majhi.

There seems to be a Jharkhand connection as to why Mohan Majhi has beaten every other candidate, be it Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Pravati Parida, Suresh Pujari, Manmohan Samal, Mukesh Mahaling or Surama Padhi.

THE 2024 LOK SABHA ELECTION EFFECT AND MOHAN MAJHI

The decision comes right after the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, where the BJP fell off the majority mark of 272, winning 240 seats. It is dependent on its NDA partners to run the government at the Centre.

The next electoral test for a bruised BJP is state polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

In Jharkhand, the NDA won nine of 14 Lok Sabha seats. It was a setback for the NDA, which had, in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, won 12 of the 14 seats.

That the ground reality has changed fast in Jharkhand is no secret.

The arrest of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged land scam might have boomeranged on the NDA.

The BJP-led NDA was routed on tribal seats in Jharkhand.

The JMM-Congress alliance wrested back the ST-reserved seats of Dumka, Khunti and Lohardaga from the NDA.

The BJP also lost the ST-reserved seat of Singbhum in Jharkhand which borders Odisha.

MOHAN MAJHI AND THE BJP'S JHARKHAND BOAT

By putting Majhi at the helm in Odisha, the BJP might be trying to attract tribal voters in Jharkhand, which will hold its Assembly election in October-November.

Keonjhar, from where Mohan Majhi won the Assembly election, is an ST-reserved seat with 45% of tribal population. The Kendujhar district headquarters is just 50 km from the Jharkhand border.

Jharkhand is a tribal state with STs forming 26.2% of the total population of the state, according to the 2011 Census.

"The selection of Mohan Majhi as the Chief Minister of Odisha will definitely have an impact on elections in tribal areas, including in neighbouring Jharkhand, which goes to polls this year," Jatindra Dash tells IndiaToday.In.

Dash says bringing back Jual Oram, a tribal MP from Odisha, in the Union council of ministers is part of the same strategy.

It might not be a strange coincidence that the governor of Odisha is Raghubar Das, a former Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

Mohan Majhi will take the oath of office on June 12 at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Majhi has big shoes to fill, taking the seat occupied for 24 years by Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik.

Though the BJP might have betted on Mohan Majhi with an eye on Jharkhand, it is no guarantee that such bets pay off. The BJP selected his namesake Yadav in Madhya Pradesh to shore up Yadav votes in Uttar Pradesh, but that didn't pay electoral dividends.

Having said it all, though Majhi might be an eligible candidate with decades of experience, the BJP is definitely trying to steady its Jharkhand boat with him at the helm in Odisha.