Arjun Munda

He lost his den to the JMM’s Dashrath Gagrai by 11,966 votes in Kharasawan for 14 years in a 2014 state assembly election.

He took the oath as Union minister in Narendra Modi's second cabinet on 30 May 2019 and became the Minister of Tribal Affairs.

During his tenure, Jharkhand got the 1st Lokayukta and the State successfully conducted the 34th National Games in 2011.

Arjun Munda defused the tension that was created due to the "Domicile movement" in 2001–2002 and insisted that every citizen of India had the fundamental right granted by the Indian Constitution to live and work in any part of the country.

NDA strongly espoused the cause of Jharkhand and made a promise that if elected they would create the tribal state of Jharkhand. Munda was attracted to BJP's ideology of selfless nation building and sacrifice. He believed in its policy of championing the cause of Jharkhand and joined BJP. He was elected again to the Bihar Assembly in 2000 elections contesting on a BJP ticket from his old constituency of Kharsawan that he had been nurturing for many years. After Jharkhand's formation, he was elected to the Jharkhand Assembly from the same constituency in 2005 and again in the 2011 bye-election after assuming responsibility as the CM in September 2010.

When NDA government came to power in 1999 under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee it kept its promise and created Jharkhand along with Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh as three new States of the Indian Union. Munda became the Tribal Welfare Minister in the 1st Babulal Marandi-led NDA coalition government of Jharkhand which was carved out from Bihar on 15 November 2000. As welfare minister, he crafted many policies and programs to ameliorate a lot of the poor and downtrodden. His vision, his work ethic, and his performance matrix soon catapulted him to the top leadership grade and his popularity and support base soared meteorically. His inclusive philosophy and his commitment to Jharkhand's high growth and development put him in the CM's chair in 2003 at the young age of 35 when he was chosen as the consensus candidate to lead the State in the aftermath of Babulal Marandi's divisive domicile policy.

He began his political career in his teens during early 80s when he joined the Jharkhand movement spearheaded by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) which sought to create a separate state for tribals from the southern regions of Bihar. A hardcore believer in the welfare of indigenous people of his region he felt passionate about the issue and took an active part in the movement. Soon his political influence grew due to his inclusive philosophy and he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly from Kharsawan constituency in 1995 on a JMM ticket.

Arjun Munda (born 3 May 1968) is a Cabinet Minister of Government of India. He is the current Minister of Tribal Affairs in the Second Modi Ministry. He was also Chief Minister of Indian state of Jharkhand. He has also served as a member of parliament having been elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from the prestigious Jamshedpur constituency in the 2009 parliamentary elections. BJP's central leadership also appointed him a National General Secretary of the party recognising his strong credentials as a popular mass leader and his significant contributions in strengthening the party in his state.

Arjun Munda was born on 3 May 1968 in Khrangajhar, Jamshedpur to a religious family of Late Ganesh and Saira Munda. After completing high school education in the Jamshedpur area, he graduated from Ranchi University and went on to earn a PG Diploma in Social Sciences from Indira Gandhi National Open University.