Chhattisgarh: Buzz in BJP on CM, old warhorse Raman or new face?

Raipur: With suspense over the next chief minister of Chhattisgarh still prevailing, BJP leaders and workers here are seen wondering if the Central leadership of the party will fall back on the old warhorse and former CM Dr Raman Singh or opt for a new face to head the new government in the state.

The decision by the Central party leadership in this regard may prove crucial considering the fast approaching Lok Sabha polls, due in May-June 2024.

Although, names of at least five leaders including Dr Singh and state BJP president Arun Sao are making rounds in the BJP circles here as front-runners for the coveted post, a senior party functionary here said that “The BJP leadership may also spring a surprise by choosing a new face for the CM post”.

“Chhattisgarh was earlier chosen as a laboratory for political experiments by BJP. The party had fielded new faces in all the 11 LS constituencies in the state in 2019 polls after the rout of BJP in November, 2018 assembly polls in the state.

The experiment had yielded amazing results with BJP winning nine out of 11 LS seats. I cannot rule out the possibility of another such experiment being explored by the party leadership for the selection of the chief minister”, the BJP leader said, unwilling to be quoted.

Other leaders who are considered as strong contenders for the post are ex-bureaucrat O P Choudhury, Union minister and tribal leader Renuka Singh and former Union minister and tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai.

While Dr Singh is a Thakur, Mr Sao and Mr Choudhury hail from OBC categories.

However, no schedule has so far been finalised to convene the meeting of the new BJP legislature body to elect its leader.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Om Mathur who was in-charge of election for Chhattisgarh, the co election in-charge and Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya and BJP national general secretary Nitin Naveen who were camping in Raipur for the last couple of days left for Delhi on Monday.

BJP has bounced back to power in the recently held assembly elections in Chhattisgarh by winning 54 out of 90 seats. Congress has secured 35 seats.