On December 11, the tribal leader from the Sarguja region, Vishnu Deo Sai, was selected as the leader of the BJP legislative party and potential Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. This proposition was put forth by former Chief Minister Raman Singh and was supported by senior MLA Brijmohan Agrawal, who is also a former Minister.
He served as State president of the party for Chhattisgarh from 2020 until 2022. He was the Union Minister of State for Mines, Steel in the first PM Modi cabinet. He is highly regarded among tribal voters.
Earlier, senior leader Raman Singh said the party may have a deputy Chief Minister, ahead of a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs in the state.
At the recently held polls, the BJP gained 54 seats in the 90-member Assembly, thus unseating the Congress government, which was led by Bhupesh Baghel. This was a decrease from the 68 seats the Congress had acquired in 2018, as they only gained 35 seats this time. During the BJP’s legislative party meeting, all 54 MLAs were present.
Union Ministers Arjun Munda and Sarbananda Sonowal, party general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam, party’s in charge for Chhattisgarh Om Mathur, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, and co-in-charge for the state Nitin Nabin are all present with three observers.
Before departing from his home to attend the meeting, Raman Singh told reporters that it will become evident who will become the chief minister once the legislative party gathers.
When asked if the announcement about the Chief Minister would be made that day, Mr. Singh replied that “everything will be clear after the meeting.” He added that “the Deputy CM will also be appointed along with others. There is no issue.”
