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.

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 made him chief minister 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.

[10] Arjun Munda defused the tension that was created due to the "Domicile movement"[11] 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.

A 32-year-long jinx was broken[clarification needed] when Jharkhand scripted history by conducting panchayat elections and empowered PRIs for participatory governance.

He introduced some of the famous welfare schemes and programs that were later emulated by other Indian states, such as:[12] An avid golfer, Munda is also interested in promoting archery at national and international levels.