Bhubaneswar: Raghubar Das, currently a national vice president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will replace Prof Ganeshi Lal, whose official tenure ended in May, as governor of Odisha.
Das, the first non-tribal Chief Minister of Jharkhand from 2014 to 2019, was born on May 3, 1955 in a poor family of Bhalubasa. His father worked as labourer in Jamshedpur. After completing his schooling from Bhalubasa Harijan High School in Jamshedpur, he went on to pursue graduation in Science and was an active union leader in his student days at Jamshedpur Co-operative College.
Das, who completed a degree in law after passing out from Jamshedpur Cooperative College, started his political career as an activist of the student movement launched by Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan in 1976-77. He was also jailed during emergency. He enrolled himself with the Janata Party in 1977 and joined the BJP after its launch three years later. He gradually rose through the BJP ranks before being nominated as a party candidate from Jamshedpur (East) in the 1995 Assembly elections.
Das, belonging to the OBC community, went on to win the seat five times from 1995 to 2019. After being elected as the BJP’s legislature party leader, he said a ‘mazdoor’ becoming CM or PM or President could happen only in the BJP.
Das had worked as a ‘mazdoor’ (labourer) at Rolling Mill of Tata Steel.
In 2004, he was appointed as BJP state president of the newly-carved Jharkhand. He became a minister of the new state for the first time in Babulal Marandi government. He also got berths in the subsequent two governments led by Arjun Munda and was sworn in as deputy chief minister in Shibu Soren-led government in 2009.
Das held portfolios of finance, labour and urban development during his stint as cabinet minister.
BJP President Amit Shah appointed him as a vice-president of the party, considering his organisational ability. The grassroot leader of BJP was appointed as governor of Odisha on October 18.
