Belonging to the Kudmi farmer community, his father, Rabi Charan Mahato, was a Government employee (Gram Sewak), and his mother, Ludhi Rani, took care of the household.
Upon returning home he gave continuing his education a thought because of his interest in literature and writing, a habit that had stayed with him.
1978 As a young leader he oversaw the organisation of the Direct Action Movement ( 15 August 1978 - 15 September 1978) which was declared by the Jharkhand Party president and MP N.E.
Horo stating that the people of the region would not pay taxes until the statehood of Jharkhand was declared by the central government, it was carried out across the Singbhum districts.
[4] This was called the Great Jharkhand Movement owing to the unprecedented mobilisation of the masses, which caused worry among the leadership of Bihar, who decided to crack down on these gatherings with firings upon the common people and started hunting down the leaders.
The villages of Ichahatu, Serengda, Gua, Baipi, and Sarjom Hatu, among others, experienced the worst of the atrocities by the Bihar police, resulting in the death of 18 Andolankaris by firing.
A report by the People's Union for Civil Liberties from the time read as follows: "Last year, on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, the villagers of Serengda responded to the call by symbolically cutting down some saplings in a nearby teak nursery.
1989 - Contested and won the Jamshedpur Lok Sabha seat after defeating the Congress Party Candidate Chandan Bagchi.
1991 - Contested 3rd time and retained his 2nd term as the MP from Jamshedpur constituency defeating the BJP candidate Amar Pratap Singh.
What began with a no-confidence motion passed against the Congress government culminated in a trial and a 3-year imprisonment verdict against then PM P.V Narsimha Rao and his aide Buta Singh that was later turned down.
Another big reason was his turning into an approver in the scandal and accepting guilt in the case had alienated him from the JMM who had denied any wrongdoing.
He became a member of the BJP in a huge rally in Ranchi where Atal Bihari Vajpayee personally attended the event testifying to the weight they were prepared to put behind Shailendra Mahato and the Jharkhand movement.
He has been a writer from his early days when he used to write for “Singhbhumi Ekta” a weekly journal that was published out of Chaibasa, from there he moved onto local newspapers like Prabhat Khabar.