Raipur: The BJP’s main tribal face in Chhattisgarh, former Union minister Vishnu Deo Sai, will be the next Chief Minister of the state. The BJP Legislature Party, which met here on Sunday, “unanimously” elected him its leader, ending the week-long suspense over the new CM.
He will be the first tribal Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.
“I have been elected unanimously as leader of the BJP Legislature Party. I am thankful to the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda for putting faith in me to serve the people of Chhattisgarh by holding the post,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Soon after, Sai went to Raj Bhavan along with the BJP MLAs-elect to stake claim to forming government.
Talking to reporters at Raj Bhavan, Sai said his first priority would be to undertake measures to sanction 18 lakh houses to the beneficiaries under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana, a pre-poll promise made by the BJP under “Modi’s guarantees”.
He announced that the bonus on paddy due for 2017 and 2018 to the farmers would be released on December 25.
The schedule of the Chief Minister’s swearing-in is yet to be finalised, senior BJP leader and former minister Brij Mohan Agrawal said.
Former state chief minister and BJP vice-president Dr Raman Singh, who proposed Sai’s name for the post, dropped hints that there would be one or two deputy chief minister posts. State BJP chief Arun Sao and first-time MLA Vijay Sharma, who defeated former minister and four-time Congress MLA Mohmmad Akbar in Kawardha seat in the polls, are tipped to get the posts of Deputy Chief Minister.
BJP circles are also abuzz with speculation that Dr Raman Singh may be made Speaker.
The three observers appointed by the BJP to oversee the election of the leader of the BJP legislature party set in motion the process of choosing the Chief Minister soon after arriving here on Sunday morning.
The three observers — Union ministers Arjun Munda and Sarbananda Sonowal and senior BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam — first held discussions with Om Mathur, election in-charge, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, co-election in-charge, and BJP general secretary Nitin Naveen.
Later, they met Dr Raman Singh and state organisational secretary Pawan Sai. They then attended the BJP Legislature Party meeting to oversee the election of its leader.
