Raipur: BJP legislative party leader Vishnu Deo Sai took oath as chief minister of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday here. BJP MLAs Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma were sworn in as deputy chief ministers of the state. The oath-taking event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, senior BJP leaders and chief ministers of other states.
Former Chattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was also present during the swearing-in ceremony. Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office to him at the Science College grounds in Raipur.
Earlier in the day, Vishnu Deo Sai offered prayers at Jagannath Temple in Raipur. In the Jagannath temple, he conducted ritualistic worship of Lord Jagannath, Mata Subhadra, and Balaram Ji.
Former Chhattisgarh CM and BJP leader Raman Singh announced the name of Vishnu Deo Sai as the next CM of Chhattisgarh during the BJP legislature meeting in Raipur on Sunday. Sai's name was announced as the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh on Sunday afternoon after a key meeting of the BJP's newly-elected 54 MLAs in the state was held in Raipur.
He won the Kunkuri Assembly seat with a total of 87,604 votes. He served as the state president of the party for Chhattisgarh from 2020 until 2022. He was the Union Minister of State for Mines and Steel in the first PM Modi cabinet. He is highly regarded among tribal voters.
The new chief minister started his political career as a village sarpanch. In 1989, he was elected as a 'panch' of Bagia village panchayat and the next year he became the sarpanch unopposed. Vishnu Deo won four consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the Raigarh constituency from 1999 to 2014. He was not given a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Of the 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh, the BJP bagged 54 while the Congress won 35.
