Bhubaneswar, June 11 (Reporter) BJP Chief Minister Designate Mohan Charan Majhi, will be the third tribal chief minister of Odisha after Hemanada Biswal and Giridhar Gomango of Congress who have served the state for a brief period only. Majhi who was elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party here on Tuesday, will be sworn in as the new Chief Minister of the state on June 12. He will be the first tribal Chief Minister of the BJP, which is forming the government in Odisha for the first time in the electoral history of Odisha. Biswal, a six time MLA from the Laikera (ST) Assembly seat and a popular tribal leader in the state, became the first tribal Chief Minister of Odisha on December 7, 1989, after the Congress High Command asked the then Chief Minister J B Patnaik to step down from the post. Biswal remained as CM for less than three months, from December 7, 1989, to March 3, 1990, as the country went for a general election. After Biswal, Giridhar Gomango, became the second tribal Chief Minister of Odisha, when again the Congress high command asked Chief Minister J B Patnaik to step down following hue and cry over the alleged gang rape of a woman and also in the wake of scams. Gomango remained the Chief Minister from February 17, 1999, to December 6, 1999, when he was also asked to step down from the post for his inept handling of the 1999 super cyclone which devastated coastal Odisha, claiming over 10,000 lives. Gomango was elected to the state assembly in a by-election from the Laxmipur (ST) assembly seat. At that time, Biswal was again made the Chief Minister of Odisha by the Congress high command, and he served the post from December 6, 1999, to March 5, 2000. Both Biswal and Gomango were made chief ministers for a brief period, replacing J B Patnaik and never became full-term Chief Minister in the state. However, BJP’s Mohan Majhi, a four time MLA from Keonjhar (ST) seat, could be said to be the first tribal chief minister in Odisha who was elected after his party won the 2024 elections, defeating the BJD, which ruled the state for 24 years...////...