RAIPUR: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vishnu Deo Sai will take oath as Chhattisgarh chief minister in Raipur on December 13 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement by Chhattisgarh public relations department said on Monday.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Science College ground at 2pm, the state government’s statement said.
Apart from PM Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya, BJP’s state in-charge Om Mathur and chief ministers of other states will also be present at the event.
Sai, who won the Kunkuri seat in the Surguja division, was elected as leader of the BJP legislative party in the Chhattisgarh assembly on Sunday, the first for the three states that the BJP won in the recent clutch of five assembly elections. On Monday, BJP legislators in Madhya Pradesh elected Mohan Yadav as leader of the BJP legislative party in the state legislature. BJP legislators in Rajasthan are expected to decide the state’s CM at their meeting on Tuesday.
Sai was elected on Sunday as leader of the BJP legislative party at the meeting of the party’s 54 newly elected 54 legislators in the 90-member assembly. The Congress, which won 68 seats in 2018, was reduced to 35 seats this time. The Gondwana Gantantra Party managed to win one seat.
{{/usCountry}}Sai was elected on Sunday as leader of the BJP legislative party at the meeting of the party’s 54 newly elected 54 legislators in the 90-member assembly. The Congress, which won 68 seats in 2018, was reduced to 35 seats this time. The Gondwana Gantantra Party managed to win one seat.
{{/usCountry}}The Chhattisgarh government statement on Monday said Sai’s council of ministers will also take oath the same day. There has, however, been no formal word on the composition of Sai’s team.
BJP leaders have indicated that two ministers in Sai’s cabinet could be designated as two deputy chief ministers. Also, one of them said, it was expected that the Sai cabinet would reflect an effort to strike a balance between the party stalwarts and the emerging second line of leadership.
A BJP leader said it was possible that the cabinet would include two women legislators, Renuka Singh and Lata Usendi, who represent seats in the tribal belt in north and south Chhattisgarh.
Harsh Dubey, a political commentator based in Chhattisgarh, said the BJP’s challenge was to “manage the regional and caste balance” apart from striking a balance between experienced lawmakers who have been re-elected and the new faces who won high-profile seats with a huge margin.