Ranchi, March 17: The Opposition members and the rebels undertook their journey to Bundu on the “Krishna Rath” on Sunday to keep their flock intact before staking claim to form the government in the state.

“Krishna Rath”, the luxury coach, was driven by Sanjay (RJD legislator Sanjay Yadav). Everything happened like the mythological sequences of the epic Mahabharata and “Arjun” was destined to win. But little did the Opposition members realise that the real “Arjun” was actually not one of them.

The real “Arjun” was actually in the BJP camp. The events took a new turn as Arjun Munda’s name came up from nowhere. He was today elected as the BJP legislature party leader and the chief minister-in-waiting for Jharkhand as the clouds of uncertainty looming large over the fate of the NDA cleared this morning.

But for this 35-year-old leader from East Singbhum’s Kharsawan area, the journey to the top was not an easy one. He had to struggle hard to make a place for himself in life and politics.

“I owe everything to my mother, Saira Munda, and another old lady in my village. We call her phupi (aunt),” Munda told The Telegraph before leaving for Raj Bhavan to stake his claim to the chief minister’s post.

His father, Ganesh Munda, died when Arjun Munda was only seven and his mother worked in the fields to fend for the family.

“My father’s death in 1971 was like a twin blow to our family. First my grandfather and then my father. My grandfather was killed when my house was raided by a band of dacoits in 1971,” he said.

Munda said his phupi might not even remember that she had paid his tuition and examination fees and encouraged him to appear for the matriculation exams despite the financial constraints of his family.

“We used to call her mini phupi. She is a widow now and is also childless. Whatever I am today is because of her,” Munda said.

Born on January 5, 1968, Munda “somehow” managed to complete his graduation from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou). “My mother was not in a position to bear the expenses for my studies after two of my sisters were married off. My elder brother, too, left his studies and worked to support the family. My mother toiled hard and I realised that I should not burden her more by asking her to pay the examination fees. So I joined Ignou,” he said.

His studies took a backseat when he joined the struggle for a separate state. In 1980, he joined politics and then he actively took part the struggle.