Chhattisgarh Governor invites Vishnu Deo Sai to form govt; swearing-in on Dec 12 or 13

The BJP legislature party in the Chhattisgarh Assembly has elected Vishnu Deo Sai as its leader at a meeting today. This pulls the curtains down on the long-draw delay on the selection of the BJP chief ministerial candidate for Chhattisgarh, where the election results were announced on December 3 along with three other states.

Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan on Sunday evening invited BJP legislative party leader Vishnu Deo Sai to form a government in the state and handed him a letter about his appointment as the Chief Minister.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister may take place on December 12 or 13 as per the availability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior BJP leader said. BJP's state president Arun Sao on Sunday submitted a letter to the Governor stating that Sai has been elected the leader of the BJP's legislative party by the newly-elected MLAs and staked a claim to form the government, a statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said.

The governor congratulated Sai and handed over a letter pertaining to his appointment as the Chief Minister under Article 164 of the Constitution and invited him to form the cabinet, it added. On the occasion, Union ministers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal and Mansukh Mandaviya, BJP's in-charge for Chhattisgarh Om Mathur, newly-elected BJP MLAs and others were present, as per the release.

After visiting Raj Bhavan, Arun Sao told reporters the swearing-in ceremony of Sai may take place on December 12 or 13 as per the availability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Earlier in the day, Sai (59), a prominent tribal leader, was picked as the leader of the BJP's legislative party in Chhattisgarh during a meeting of 54 newly elected party MLAs. The BJP won 54 out of the total 90 assembly seats in the recently held elections, reducing Congress' tally to 35. The Gondwana Gantantra Party managed to win one seat.

Born on 21 February 1964 in a tribal family, Vishnu Deo Sai was appointed as Union Minister of State for Steel in 2014. He has also served as BJP Chhattisgarh President from 2020 until 2022. He was a member of the 16th Lok Sabha representing the Raigarh constituency of Chhattisgarh.

Earlier today, the BJP legislature party meeting was held in Raipur in which three observers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal and Dushyant Kumar spoke separately to all the winning MLAs and sought their opinions. Following this, the leaders of the BJP legislative party unanimously elected Vishnu Deo Sai as the leader of the legislative party. As soon as Sai's name came up, all 54 MLAs agreed to his name by voice vote.

Speaking to the media after the announcement, Sai said: "...With all honesty I will work for 'Sabka Vishwas' & the promises made to the people of Chhattisgarh under 'Modi Ki Guarantee' will be fulfilled. As a CM of the state, we will try to fulfil the promises. The first work will be to give 18 lakh 'Awas' to the people..."

In the five years (of Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government), 18 lakh beneficiaries of the PM Awas Yojna were deprived of the benefits under this scheme. Sanctioning 18 lakh houses to these beneficiaries will be the first work (to be done) in the state, he said. "On the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister (late) Atal Bihari Vajpayee December 25, who was the founder of Chhattisgarh State, a bonus against paddy procurement for two years which was pending during the previous BJP government (2013-2018) will be given to farmers (who had then sold their paddy)," Sai said.

"All the guarantees of Modi Ji, BJP's poll promises, will be fulfilled in the next five years," he said. Sai has become the fourth chief minister of the state. His predecessors included Ajit Jogi (Congress), Raman Singh (BJP) who helmed the state for three consecutive terms starting from 2003 to 2018, and Bhupesh Baghel (Congress) who held the top post from 2018 to December 2023. Baghel congratulated Sai on being elected as the leader of the BJP's legislative party.

Sai was picked from an array of top BJP leaders from Chhattisgarh speculated to be potential candidates for the chief minister post. They included Vishnu Deo Sai, Raman Singh, Arun Sao,OP Chaudhary, Ramvichar Netam, and Saroj Pandey.

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