BJP MLA Vishnu Deo Sai took oath as the fourth chief minister of Chhattisgarh in an impressive ceremony in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders of the party in Raipur on Wednesday.
Though the names were not formally announced in advance as in Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, state BJP president Arun Sao and first time MLA from Kawardha Vijay Sharma took oath as deputy chief ministers.
No ministers took oath during the ceremony, indicating that the cabinet composition is likely after some consultations. The ceremony was over in less than 10 minutes.
Sources indicate that the BJP leadership wants fresh faces in the Chhattisgarh cabinet, too, to promote new leadership and since there will be only 10 spots vacant after the oath of chief minister and two deputies – the selection process is likely to take some time.
Among the prominent contenders for the ministerial posts are former ministers Brijmohan Agrawal, Vikram Usendi, Kedar Kashyap, Lata Usendi, Dharamlal Kaushik, Rajesh Munat, Amar Agrawal, Ajay Chandrakar, former Rajya Sabha member Ramvichar Netam, bureaucrat turned politician O.P. Chaudhary, senior MLA Domanlal Kosewada and former Union minister Renuka Singh.
Ex-chief minister Raman Singh has been nominated as the assembly speaker candidate of the party.
However, given the current trend of the BJP, surprising names are likely to come up for the ministerial berths, sources said.
The oath taking ceremony was earlier scheduled for 2 pm, but was deferred to 4 pm as PM Modi arrived with a delay in Raipur from Bhopal where he earlier participated in the oath taking ceremony of Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav and his deputies Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Sai participated in a Navgraha Puja ritual at his home with his wife Kaushalya and took blessings from his mother Jasmani Devi. He also visited the Jagannath temple in Gayatri Nagar of Raipur to offer prayers. Later, he garlanded the statues of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and martyr Veer Narayan Singh at different spots in Raipur.
Sai is the first tribal chief minister of Chhattisgarh. He has promised to pay the pending paddy bonus worth Rs 4,200 crores to farmers by December 25 and to sanction 18 lakh units under PM Housing scheme. These were major poll promises of the BJP.
With deputies in Sao and Sharma – belonging to OBC and general categories respectively – the BJP is trying to balance caste equations ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha polls in 2024. BJP had won nine of the 11 LS seats in the state in 2019 and is expecting to better the score. Vijay Sharma is also a known aggressive Hindutva face – and is likely to help the BJP’s cause ahead of the general elections.
