Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Mr. Sai, a tribal leader from Jashpur, is the fourth Chief Minister of the State.
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State BJP president Arun Sao and general secretary Vijay Sharma took oath as Deputy Chief Ministers in a brief swearing-in ceremony held at Raipur’s Science College ground, and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among others.
Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Sai and his two deputies.
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No other ministers were sworn in, a script similar to what happened in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh a few hours ago. Speaking to journalists earlier, senior BJP leader Narayan Chandel said the Cabinet would be expanded soon and it would be a balanced one. In the results declared 10 days ago, the BJP won 54 seats in the 90-member Assembly, and the State Cabinet can have a maximum of 13 Ministers, including the Chief Minister. This leaves the challenge of balancing caste, gender and regional equations for the BJP.
Multiple terms
Fifty nine-year-old Mr. Sai, a former Union Minister and a former State BJP president, has been elected to the Parliament and State legislature for multiple terms. He has the backing of the top leadership and enjoys a good rapport with various sections of the Chhattisgarh BJP as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. In the recently concluded elections, he won the Kunkuri seat in the State’s Surguja division.
Mr. Sao, a lawyer-turned-politician who hails from the influential Sahu (Teli) OBC community, won the Lormi Assembly constituency by 45,891 votes against his nearest Congress rival Thaneshwar Sahu. Prior to this, he was the Lok Sabha member from Bilaspur, an election he won by a margin of 1.41 lakh votes in 2019. Mr. Sharma, a Brahmin face and a first-time MLA like Mr. Sao, won from Kawardha. He built his campaign against former Minister Mohammad Akbar of the Congress on the Hindutva plank, accusing the Minister of siding with Muslims in a communal riot in October 2021.
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Notably, Mr. Sharma himself faced charges of rioting in that 2021 case. He was arrested in connection with that case and later released on bail. He has also served as the State president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP’s youth wing.
After the swearing in, the three leaders went to Mahanadi Bhawan, the State secretariat, and formally assumed charge.
Tight security
Besides BJP leaders from across the country, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and party leaders from other States attended the event which saw a gathering of around 50,000 people amid tight security.
Also present at the occasion were former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Deputy Chief Minister T.S. Singh Deo. Mr. Baghel was seen shaking hands with Mr. Modi on the stage after the event.
This is the first time the swearing-in was held at the Science College. Apart from the crowd absorbing capacity, the venue holds symbolic value for the BJP as this was where Mr. Modi formally launched the party’s election campaign in July with the slogan “Badalbo Badalbo e daari sarkar la badalbo’ [Chhattisgarhi for We will change the government this time]’.