Former Union Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, a prominent tribal face of the BJP in Chhattisgarh, will be State Chief Minister after he was elected as leader of BJP’s legislative party during a meeting of 54 newly elected MLAs here on Sunday.
The saffron party returned to power after a gap of five years following the recently-concluded Assembly polls. Chhattisgarh may also see a Deputy Chief Minister.
While the decision in Chhattisgarh was made without any hiccups, Vasundhara Raje Scindia’s situation appears to be a litmus test for the BJP. Central party observers, including Rajnath Singh joined by party vice president Saroj Pandey and general secretary Vinod Tawde, are involved in Rajasthan, where the party seized power from the Congress. Raje is a two-time former CM of the desert State.
Sources said the new CM in Madhya Pradesh will be announced on Monday evening followed by Rajasthan on Tuesday afternoon to facilitate the oath ceremonies before December 15 in the three Hindi heartland States.
At Chhattisgarh, a delegation of BJP MLAs led by its Chief Minister-designate Vishnu staked claimed late evening at the Raj Bhavan in Raipur. “We have handed over a letter to the Governor stating that Sai has been elected as the legislative party leader,” BJP MLA Brijmohan Agrawal informed the media.
Vishnu, 59, a prominent tribal leader, was elected as the leader of the BJP’s legislative party in Chhattisgarh during a meeting of 54 newly elected party MLAs at Kushabhau Thakre Parisar, the party’s State headquarters. The BJP’s three observers, Union Ministers Arjun Munda and Sarbananda Sonowal and party general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam, were present during the meeting of the newly elected party MLAs.
BJP’s in-charge for Chhattisgarh Om Mathur, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and party’s co-in-charge for the State Nitin Nabin were also present. The BJP won 54 out of the total 90 Assembly seats in the State. The Congress, which won 68 seats in 2018, was reduced to 35 seats this time. The Gondwana Gantantra Party managed to win one seat.
Vishnu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and other party leaders for reposing faith in him to hold the top post in Chhattisgarh. “As the Chief Minister, I will try to fulfil Modi’s guarantees (pre-poll promises of the BJP) through the Government,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Starting his political career as the sarpanch,Vishnu rose through the ranks and became a member of Modi’s first Council of Ministers in 2014. Incidentally, addressing a poll rally in the Kunkuri constituency last month, Shah had urged voters to elect Vishnu, promising to make the latter a “big man” if the party comes back to power in the State.
Furthermore, amid a strong buzz within the BJP that leadership will introduce new leaders for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, sidelining the claims of Vasundhara and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, sources mentioned that Raje has been making efforts to secure a prominent position. In this regard, she sought an audience with party chief JP Nadda after sources indicated that she was denied a meeting with Shah.
The choice of Rajnath, one of the senior most BJP leaders and a Rajput leader, is likely to help build a consensus around the leadership’s chief ministerial choice among MLAs. Some newly elected BJP MLAs met Raje at her Civil Lines residence on Sunday, amid suspense over whom the party will pick for the CM post in the State.
While no clarity emerged on the MP’s contenders, former MP Balak Nath besides Raje are amongst the front-runners in Rajasthan. Several other leaders of the party including Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Arjun Meghawal, former party MPs Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, CP Joshi, Rajyavardhan Singh, Diya Kumari, Kirori Lal Meena, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla are also believed to be in the fray.
Prahlad Singh Patel, Kailash Vijayavargiya and Jyotiraditya Scindia are also among the top contender for the position in Madhya Pradesh. Party appointed Observers for Madhya Pradesh, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, OBC Morcha chief and Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman and party national secretary Asha Lakra are talking to the legislators to reach out for consensus.
BJP won 163 seats out of the 230-member assembly, while the Congress managed to emerge victorious on just 66 seats, down from the 114 it had secured in the 2018 polls.
