The suspense over the next Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh is over, as the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided that Vishnu Deo Sai will be the next CM of the state. After BJP defeated the ruling Congress in the assembly polls, names of several BJP leaders had emerged as frontrunners for the post, including former CM Raman Singh.
Former union minister Vishnu Deo Sai, a tribal leader, was selected after a team of central observers of BJP reached Raipur. Union health minister and BJP’s Chhattisgarh co-incharge Mansukh Mandaviya, along with senior party leaders Sarbananda Sonowal and Arjun Munda were among the leaders who were sent by the party to the state to decide on the name of the Chief Minister.
59-year-old Vishnu Dev Sai is a former union minister of state and former Chhattisgarh BJP president. He was president for four years between 2018 and 2022, and has won the elections from Kunkuri in north Chhattisgarh, a region the BJP has swept. Vishnu Deo Sai was a member of the 16th Lok Sabha representing the Raigarh constituency of Chhattisgarh. He was Union Minister of State for Steel and MoS for Mines in the first Modi government.
Sao hails from the influential Sahu (Teli) community which has a sizable presence in the Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur divisions. The OBCs account for around 45 per cent of the state’s population
Sai was chosen over Raman Singh, a three-time Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. 71-year-old Raman Singh governed the state from 2003 to 2018, and before that he was a union minister. However, he was victim of anti-incumbency after ruling for three terms, and BJP had lost badly in 2018. Other major contenders for the top post were Renuka Singh, who resigned as Union minister after being elected as an MLA, former state ministers Ramvichar Netam and Lata Usendi, and Gomti Sai, who resigned as an MP after being elected to the assembly.
Legislative Assembly elections were held in Chhattisgarh in two phases on 7 November and 17 November 2023, and the votes for 90 seats were counted on 3rd December 2023. Proving most exit polls wrong, BJP won clear majority by winning 54 seats, while ruling Congress won 35 seats in a two-way contest. Only one MLA in the house is not from either of the party, as Gondvana Gantantra Party has won one seat.
BJP is expected to announce names of chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan also soon.
