Meet Vishnu Deo Sai, BJP's prominent tribal face, named new Chhattisgarh CM

Vishnu Deo Sai, who will take oath as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, is a senior BJP leader and has been a four-time Member of Parliament. He is the tribal face of the BJP in Chhattisgarh and won from the Kunkuri Assembly constituency by over 25,000 votes.

Hyderabad/Raipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday announced that Vishnu Deo Sai will be the new Chhattisgarh Chief Minister. The 59-year-old leader was elected as the leader of the BJP Legislative Party. The BJP won the Chhattisgarh polls by bagging 54 seats in the 90-member Assembly, while Congress won 35 seats. The counting of votes took place on Sunday, December 3, but the BJP announced the name of the new Chief Minister on Sunday, December 10.

Vishu Deo Sai is considered close to the RSS and is a close aid of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Dr Raman Singh. Vishnu Deo Sai was born on February 21, 1964 in a farmer's family and is a tribal face of the saffron party. His grandfather late Budhnath Sai was a nominated MLA from 1947 to 1952. His 'bade pitaji' (elder brother of his father) late Narhari Prasad Sai was a member of the Jan Sangh (BJP's predecessor) and served as a two-term MLA (1962-67 and 1972-77) and was elected as an MP (1977-79) and served as a Minister of State in the Janata Party government.

Vishnu Deo Sai studied in a government school in Kunkuri and went to Ambikapur for graduation but quit studies midway and returned to his village in 1988. In 1989, he was elected as a 'panch' of Bagia village panchayat and next year became the sarpanch unopposed. It is said it was BJP stalwart late Dilip Singh Judev who encouraged him to enter electoral politics in 1990. In the same year, Sai was elected as MLA for the first time on a BJP ticket from Tapkara (in Jashpur district) in undivided Madhya Pradesh. He retained the seat in the 1993 assembly polls. In 1998, he unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls from the adjoining Pathalgaon seat. Though the BJP fielded him in the 2003 and 2008 Assembly elections from Pathalgaon in Chhattisgarh, which came into existence as a separate state on November 1, 2000, he lost on both occasions.

In 1999, he was elected to the 13th Lok Sabha and from 1999-200 Sai was member, Committee on Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution. From 2000-2004, he was member of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2004, Sai was re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha and worked as a member in the Committee on Information Technology. In August 2007, he was selected as the Member in Committee on Water Resources. In 2009, he was re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha. He was elected to the Lower House of the Parliament from the Raigarh Lok Sabha (ST) constituency.

In August 2009, he worked as a member, Committee on Commerce. In 2014, Sai was re-elected to 16th Lok Sabha and on November 9, 2014, he was sworn-in as the Union Minister of State for Mines and Steel. Sai also served as the Chhattisgarh BJP chief from 2020-2022. The tribal politician also served as the BJP's Chhattisgarh chief from 2006 to 2010 and again from January-August 2014.

He was among the then 10 sitting BJP MPs in Chhattisgarh who were denied tickets for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Ahead of the polls in November this year, Sai was named a member of the BJP national executive in July. In 2023 Chhattisgarh Assembly polls, Sai, a soft-spoken person, won from the Kunkuri Assembly constituency in Jashpur district by over 25,000 votes. He was the front runner for the post of the Chief Minister. Sai polled 87,604 votes while his nearest rival - Congress candidate UD Minj polled 62, 063 votes.

After the announcement, Vishnu Deo Sai was congratulated was senior BJP leaders including Union Ministers Sarbananda Sonowal, Arjun Munda and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh.

Speaking to reporters, Vishnu Deo Sai said, "As chief minister, I will try to fulfil Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's guarantees through my government. Sanctioning 18 lakh houses to beneficiaries of housing scheme will be the first work to be done by the new Chhattisgarh government."

"...As a Chief Minister, my priority will be to fulfill the promises made to the people. Every section of society was suffering during the five years of Congress rule. Around 18 lakh people have been deprived of 'Pradhan Mantri Awas' (Prime Minister Housing). On December 25, the birth anniversary of (former Prime Minister) Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a bonus for two years will be given to the farmers. We will fulfill all the promises made under 'Modi Ki Guarantee," he added.