BHUBANESWAR: BJP’s choice of first-time MLA from Rairangpur Assembly constituency Naba Charan Majhi as its candidate for Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat has taken everyone by surprise as he replaced Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu.
The nomination of Majhi from the tribal-dominated parliamentary constituency came at a time when the state unit of the BJP was seriously contemplating to drop him for his non-performance and lack of contact with his constituents during the last five years. The party was in search for suitable candidates for Rairangpur Assembly seat and Maryubhanj Parliamentary constituency.
A bachelor, Majhi worked with President Droupadi Murmu when she was the councillor of Rairangpur notified area council (NAC). Subsequently, he became the chairman of Rairangpur NAC from 2007 to 2012.
Having started his political career from college as a member of All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU), Majhi (63) was first elected as a councillor from ward no 2 where he resides.
As his political career in Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) did not pick up, Majhi joined the BJP and got a ticket from the party in 2019. However, his nomination for the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat is a big risk the BJP has taken. “Majhi’s prospects were bleak this time if he had been repeated him from Rairangpur. He has done nothing for his constituency and hardly kept contact with the voters. He, himself, was not very confident of winning the upcoming poll,” sources in the BJP said.
On the other hand, a senior ruling party leader said, “With the BJD announcing the candidature of Revenue Minister Sudam Marndi from Mayurbhanj, Majhi will have a tough time despite the BJP’s perceptible wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Marndi, a one-time MP and five-time MLA, is too formidable candidate for Majhi to take on despite the fact that both started their political careers from JMM. Marndi has a huge political network in the district and all the seven out of the nine Assembly segments, sources added.
BJP sources, also said, Union minister Tudu also did not have a good standing this time for lack of performance and work for his constituency. He is also stated to have been dropped for contesting the Assembly elections from a seat under the parliamentary constituency.