ENDING THE suspense in Chhattisgarh, the BJP on Sunday named senior tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai (59), a former Union minister and three-time state party president, as its Chief Minister.
Soon after the party’s newly elected 54 MLAs met its central observers in the afternoon, Sai’s name was proposed by former chief minister Raman Singh and seconded by senior leaders Brijmohan Agrawal, the party’s longest serving eight-time MLA, and state BJP chief Arun Sao, who resigned from the Lok Sabha after winning the Lormi Assembly seat. Seven-time MLA Punnulal Mohle and former minister from the tribal community, Lata Usendi, also supported Sai.
Sai later met Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan and staked claim to form the government.
PTI adds: After visiting Raj Bhavan, Sao told reporters that the swearing-in ceremony may take place on December 12 or 13, as per the availability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In his first comments, Sai said: “I thank all the MLAs who have shown faith in me. I will work with full honesty and try to live up to the expectations of everyone. As the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, I shall fulfill the Modi guarantees given to the people by our party.”
“In the last five years, 18 lakh people did not get the Awas Yojna (housing scheme) and my top priority will be to ensure all of them get it. All those who are corrupt will be punished. We won all the 14 Surguja seats because the Congress failed, and the Modi guarantees worked for us,” he said.
While there is speculation that Sao, the OBC face from the Sahu (Teli) community, and Vijay Sharma, an organisational leader who defeated Mohammad Akbar of the Congress from Kawardha, may be Deputy Chief Ministers, and Raman Singh may be Speaker, there is no official word yet.
If Sao is made Deputy CM, the party will be seen to strike a balance, with OBCs being offered representation. The Sahus have a fair population in the state and are a core vote bank for the BJP.
The party is projecting Sai as the first elected tribal Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. While Ajit Jogi was made the CM when the state was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, a high-powered state committee had rejected his tribal status in 2019.
In this sense, Sai’s elevation is a symbolic gesture to the tribal community months before the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP did well in the tribal seats this time, particularly in the Sarguja belt, to which Sai belongs, where it won all the 14 seats. It also won 8 of the 12 seats in Bastar.
“On the death anniversary of Shahid Veer Narayan Singh, Chhattisgarh got Adivasi leadership,” the state BJP unit tweeted. Veer Narayan Singh was a tribal freedom fighter.
The elevation of Draupadi Murmu as President of India, and Modi recently launching the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to spread information about government schemes from Adivasi icon Birsa Munda’s birthplace in Jharkhand were signs that the party was looking at a massive tribal outreach. Appointing a tribal CM in Chhattisgarh seems to take that outreach forward, months before the Lok Sabha polls.
There is also a Hindutva angle. Sai was an activist of RSS tribal affiliate Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA) before he became an MP. “He was actively associated with the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram in Jashpur,” said Kripa Prasad Singh of VKA, who has been overseeing the work of the outfit at its headquarters, Jashpur, for decades.
“He is not just the first tribal CM. He is the first non-Christian tribal CM,” said a BJP insider, obliquely pointing to the work of VKA, which has, for decades, countered the church in Jashpur through the “ghar wapsi” programme, in which the late MP Dilip Singh Judev was very active.
Vijay Sharma, whose name is also doing the rounds as Deputy CM, defeated Congress candidate Mohammad Akbar, who had the largest victory margin in the 2018 Assembly elections. Sharma’s campaign focused on the claim that Akbar was settling Rohingya Muslims around Kawardha, the constituency, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a public meeting there that where one Akbar is elected, he brings 100 more Akbars.
Party sources said the leadership considered only tribal faces to lead the government in Chhattisgarh and there were two names under consideration — Sai and former union minister Renuka Singh. However, Sai’s name found more acceptance in the state unit, sources said.
Sai is known to be close to Raman Singh. Congratulating Sai, the former CM said: “I have full confidence that under your (Sai) leadership, we will be successful in bringing progressive changes in the state by fulfilling the promises of BJP’s Sankalp Patra with full dedication, and under the BJP’s double-engine government, Chhattisgarh will develop at double the speed.”
“Under his leadership, Chhattisgarh will walk towards development and progress. He is a soft face and someone who keeps warm ties with everyone, and seeks cooperation from everyone. He has no political rivalry with anyone. The choice is lauded by everyone in the state,” Saroj Pandey, BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, told The Indian Express.
Sai’s choice also suggests a safe and consensus-building approach from the central leadership. It has chosen to woo a numerically large community identified with the state, in what may be a tacit break from its earlier approach, a few years ago, of choosing CMs from smaller communities.
“In the massive development and transformation of Bharat under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, a key facet has been the empowerment of previously neglected sections of society, such as tribals and members of the SC and OBC communities… Vishnu Deo Sai is a seasoned leader from the tribal community,” said BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda, who worked in Chhattisgarh in the run-up to the elections.
With inputs from Liz Mathew, New Delhi
