[5] Mandavi contested from the Bhanupratappur constituency for the first time in 2003 as an Indian National Congress (INC) candidate, but lost to BJP's Deo Lal Dugga by a margin of only 1379 votes.
[6] In the next legislative election of 2008, now contesting as an Independent candidate, he lost to BJP's Bramhanand by 15479 votes.
[7][8] On 30 November 2019, Mandavi filed nomination papers for the post of Deputy Speaker in the 4th Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly.
[11][12] He was succeeded by his wife Savitri Manoj Mandavi, who won the bye election after his death.
[15][16][5] To mark Mandavi's death, the state government implemented a one-day period of mourning in Kanker district and the capital city of Raipur on 16 October 2022.