(At an election rally this time, Amit Shah had said he would make Vishnu Deo Sai a “big man” if he is voted to power .... so commitment matters. Notably in the 1980s, Sai also enjoyed the backing of BJP veteran Dilip Singh Judev, known for leading the Ghar Wapsi campaign in Chhattisgarh region.)
The BJP won eight of the 12 seats in Bastar belt in Nov 2023 elections, the saffron party also wrested all 14 tribal-stronghold assembly seats and that a tribal leader could become Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh was a well known guess. The BJP’s seat tally of 54 was propelled by the spectacular performance in the tribal regions in north and south. The Congress had swept the tribal region in 2018.
Vishnu Deo Sai has been now named as the new Chief Minister.
A three-time state BJP president, Sai is known in party circles for being a soft-spoken leader. The lowest point of his political career came when he lost the constituency of Pathalgaon in two successive Assembly polls — in 2003 and 2008.
He took over the state unit for the third time in 2020 but was replaced last year.
“He is one of the most accepted leaders..," a BJP source said adding it is not the first time the BJP has decided to 'reward and honour' a tribal giving him such a high pedestal.
India's President Droupadi Murmu is also a tribal woman leader from Odisha.
Former Assam Chief Minister and now an Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, also a tribal, and senior BJP Dushyant Kumar Gautam felicitated and garlanded Sai after he was elected as the next Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh during BJP Legislature Party meeting in Raipur on Sunday, December 10th.
No wonder Sonowal was nominated as a member of high command team. Incidentally, Sonowal was the first BJP tribal Chief Minister of Assam also elevated by the Lotus party between 2016 and 2021.
A four-time Lok Sabha MP, he also served as a two-time MLA in undivided Madhya Pradesh.
At an election rally this time, Amit Shah had said he would make Sai a “big man” if he is voted to power.
Sai hails from the Gond tribal community in the Surguja tribal belt in north
The party move obviously showed that the central leadership and especially PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah along with BJP chief J P Nadda wants to respect the seniority and the ability to take different sections in the party along.
Sai was born in Bagia in Jashpur district. BJP veteran Dilip Singh Judev, known for leading the Ghar Wapsi campaign in Chhattisgarh, was among those who backed Sai whose political career began in the 1980s.
New CM-designate Vishnu Deo Sai said he would fulfill the promises made to the people of Chhattisgarh under "Modi ki guarantee".
Vishnu Deo Sai won the Kunkuri Assembly seat with a total of 87,604 votes. A former BJP state chief, Deo Sai was also projected to be the party's first choice for the CM post if it were to choose a tribal face.
He has held various offices, including Union Minister of State for Steel in the First Modi ministry and Member of Parliament for the Raigarh constituency of Chhattisgarh in the 16th Lok Sabha.
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