BJP Picks A Tribal Face In Chhattisgarh With Raman Singh’s Blessings

In a much anticipated move, the BJP picked up a tribal leader and former Union Minister Vishnu Deo Sai as its new chief minister of Chhattisgarh. BJP leader and Union Minister Renuka Singh Saruta, who was in the race described Sai’s selection as “for the first time a party worker from the tribal community belonging to a farmer’s family has been elected”. She underscored the fact that Sai had won the recently concluded assembly polls from Kunkuri in north Chhattisgarh, a region that the BJP had swept picking up all the 14 seats in the region. It was in this region that the BJP managed to defeat the Congress including its deputy chief minister TS Singhdeo from Ambikapur by 94 votes. In the run up to the elections, home minister Amit Shah while addressing a meeting in Sai’s constituency had already indicated that he would get an important assignment if he was elected. Besides, Sai became a natural choice as he is considered close to former CM Raman Singh. Having been a prominent figure in the BJP, Sai has held various positions as he hails from the influential Sahu (Teli) community which has a sizable presence in the Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur divisions. He served as BJP State President from 2020 until 2022. And has also worked with PM Modi in his first cabinet. In fact after being appointed, all that Sai had to say was “I will work to fulfil ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’. Congress leaders conceded that they could never have a tribal CM in the state after late Ajit Jogi — the state’s first CM –got ruled out as an ST in 2019.