I was surprised he became Odisha CM, says Mohan Majhi’s wife

Priyanka was watching the news on television when she was stunned to hear that her husband, Mohan Charan Majhi, had been declared the new chief minister of Odisha.

The housewife had assumed that her husband, who still has a small asbestos house in his village, would at best be named a minister in the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.

Instead, the BJP named Majhi the new chief minister after the party trounced the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Assembly elections.

Pleasant surprise

Indeed, no member of Majhi’s family had expected the unexpected to happen.

“I never thought that he (Mohan) would become the CM. I was expecting that he would secure a ministerial berth in the new BJP cabinet. It was a breath-taking surprise for our family,” Priyanka said in Bhubaneswar.

Priyanka is, however, confident that her husband would do good work for the people of the state and his own constituency Keonjhar.

Mother beams

Mohan’s mother, wife and two sons reside in government quarters in Bhubaneswar.

The mother, Bale Majhi, said she was very happy that her son had become the chief minister.

“He came forward to serve the people when he was a youth. First, he became a sarpanch, then an MLA and now the chief minister,” she said.

Village celebrations

One of his sons, Krishna, a Class 8 student, said his friends were pestering him to buy sweets for them.

Majhi’s impending takeover as the chief minister has led to celebrations in his native village Raikala, in Keonjhar district.

“We are all happy that our Majhi has become the CM. He is a humble person and will definitely work for the state and meet the aspirations of the people,” said a neighbour.