In a freewheeling chat with the editorial director of The New Indian Express Prabhu Chawla at the Odisha Literary Festival, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi discussed politics, his development ideas, progress of industrialisation in Odisha and other issues.
Excerpts:
PC: How did you overcome the fear of becoming a successful chief minister after taking over from Naveen Patnaik? Considering the obvious comparisons with your predecessor.
CM: I was not in government and I had not become a minister as my party had not won an election before 2024. But I have a long experience in politics. I got into politics in 1992 when I was a student. Unlike others in my college who were busy in students’ union affairs, I was into proper politics. I was defeated when I contested elections for the first time, like Bhima in Mahabharata. And like Bhima, I was also never defeated again. I became a sarpanch, then MLA and now I am the chief minister. However, whether one may be in power or not, serving people can take him or her a long way in politics.
PC: You have been associated with the RSS. How have you now balanced Hindutva with the development plank?
CM: One who resides in India is a Hindu, irrespective of the religion he belongs to. He is a Hindu and Indian. Our mission is nationalism and we have to do politics on this basis. You can call me a Hinduvadi, but I wanted to work for the BJP from the beginning. I was inspired by towering personalities like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other leaders who were working hard for the people and the society. I became an MLA for the first time in 2000 and realised that BJP has a big platform to serve the people. Whether in power or not, it is very satisfying to work in the BJP.
PC: How do you plan to develop Odisha industrially? Though the state is rich in mines and minerals, industrial development has not been as expected.
CM: Industrialisation did not pick up under previous governments because they lacked the will. Our government has started afresh to make Odisha an industrial powerhouse. For example, Keonjhar is rich in mineral resources like iron ore and manganese but does not have a single industry. Our government was successful in bringing back POSCO again to Odisha and the company has agreed to invest in Keonjhar to establish a steel plant. The issue was in the headlines and even the prime minister acknowledged that Mohan Majhi was able to woo POSCO back to Odisha.
The BJP government is not just working to make Keonjhar an industrial hub. We are working assiduously to set up industries in every district of the state. We organised Utkarsh Odisha: Make-In-Odisha conclave earlier this year, which attracted investment proposals worth Rs 17 lakh crore. After the signing of MoUs, people started asking questions on grounding of projects. Our government has already successfully grounded in four projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore.
Odisha has emerged a leader in the semicondutor sector. Just two days back, students of NIT-Rourkela and Parala Maharaja Engineering College at Berhampur presented semiconductor chips at the SEMICON India-2025 conclave in Delhi in the presence of the PM. They are among the first semiconductor chips to be developed in India. Odisha is surging ahead in other sectors also.
PC: What is the one thing Naveen Patnaik overlooked as chief minister that you would like to accomplish?
CM: He had forgotten many things during his tenure as chief minister. There are skilled people in the state, but they do not have any employment opportunity. They are migrating to Surat, Coimbatore and other places for work. We are giving thrust on creating employment for our youth.
PC: There is a complaint that your government is changing schemes named after Biju Patnaik.
CM: The state has many things like the international airport at Bhubaneswar and many awards in Biju Babu’s name. Biju Patnaik was a great son of Odisha and we respect him. We are committed to his legacy of industrialisation and development.
But Naveen Babu closed down the OTM, sugar mills, spinning mills and a pig iron plant at Keonjhar, which were all started by Biju Babu.
PC: You have allowed government employees to be members of the RSS
CM: I am a swayamsevak, you are also a swayamsevak. Many government employees are swayamsevaks from their school and college days. They will remain so. Many BJD and Congress leaders are also swayamsevaks. The main thing is the ideology (soch), contributing to the nation and the entire world, which they are doing.
