The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday chose Vishnu Deo Sai, a party veteran and former Union Minister, as the next Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh on Sunday. He will be the central Indian State’s fourth Chief Minister, and the first tribal leader to hold the post. He is also the first to hail from a region beyond the Other Backward Class-dominated central plains in Chhattisgarh’s 23-year-old history.
The MLA from Kunkuri, a reserved constituency in the hilly northern tribal belt of Sarguja from where the BJP won all 14 seats in the recent election, was unanimously chosen as the BJP’s Legislative Party leader at a meeting held in the presence of central observers in the party headquarters at Raipur.
He later met Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan as the CM-designate and was handed the letter appointing him as the new Chief Minister. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be held later this week.
Two deputy CMs
While the appointment of Mr. Sai concludes a week of speculations around the chief ministerial face of the BJP, the party also announced that there would be two Deputy Chief Ministers in the Cabinet while three-time former Chief Minister Raman Singh would be the Assembly Speaker. Dr. Singh said, “National president [J.P. Nadda] has talked about it. I will discharge any responsibility given to me”. He also confirmed that the party had decided to appoint two Deputy CMs.
BJP leaders congratulate the tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai after being elected as the legislature party leader, in Raipur on December 10, 2023 | Photo Credit: ANI
There are speculations that BJP’s current State president Arun Sao, a prominent OBC leader who was in the race for the CM post, and Vijay Sharma, a first-time MLA from Kawardha who defeated Congress veteran and the only Muslim Minister in the previous government, Mohammmad Akbar, have been shortlisted for the Deputy CM posts.
In his first interaction with the media, Mr. Sai said his priority would be to fulfil the series of poll promises labelled “Modi ki Guarantee”. Among others, he said 18 lakh homes would be built for the poor.
“I thank all the MLAs who have shown faith in me. I will work with complete honesty and try to live up to the expectations of everyone. As the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, I shall fulfil ‘Modi’s guarantees’ given to the people by our party. In the last five years, 18 lakh people did not benefit from Awas Yojna [housing scheme] and my top priority will be to ensure all of them get it. All those who are corrupt will be punished. We won all the 14 Surguja seats because of Congress’s failure and the Modi guarantees. Modi ji’s presence [in campaigning] made a huge difference.”
Another key announcement made by the new CM was giving a two-year bonus to eligible farmers on December 25, the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
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Earlier, Mr. Sai’s name was proposed by former CM Dr. Singh, and supported by Mr. Sao and former Minister Brijmohan Agrawal. The new CM is considered close to Dr. Singh.
Shortly after Mr. Sai’s name was announced, BJP workers gathered at Kushabhau Thakre Parisar, the party’s State headquarters in Raipur where the Legislative Party meeting was held, raised slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the late Jashpur royal family scion Dilip Singh Judev, besides the newly appointed CM. Judev was a prominent BJP leader from the Sarguja belt known for his anti-religious conversion movement. His son Prabal Pratap Judev, who also unsuccessfully contested the 2023 Assembly election on a BJP ticket posted an old picture of Mr. Sai with his late father with the caption ““Father, you will be proud today 🙏🏻#VishnuDevSai #NewCMofChhattisgarh @vishnudsai” on X (formerly Twitter).
As party MLAs, including some who were contenders for the coveted post themselves, emerged from the meeting, they expressed support for the new Chief Minister.
Former Union Minister Renuka Singh, another tribal leader from the Sarguja belt, whose name was also in the mix, said she was happy that a person from the tribal community had been elected as the CM.
While Mr. Sai hails from the Kanwar tribe, a high-level caste scrutiny committee set up by the previous Congress government (2018-2023) had in 2019 dismissed former CM (the late) Ajit Jogi’s claim of belonging to the Kanwar tribe - a Scheduled Tribe (ST) - and cancelled his caste certificates.
“I will do whatever the party organisation instructs me to do,” Ms. Singh said when asked about her role in the new government.
