Who is Vishnu Deo Sai, the tribal leader picked by BJP to be Chhattisgarh CM?

After days of shuffling through many names, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen Vishnu Deo Sai as its Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh. A tribal face and a veteran politician, the 59-year-old emerged as the dark horse of the long suspense over the post. As per News18, he will be Chhattisgarh’s first tribal CM since Ajit Jogi’s tribal credentials were rejected by a committee. The decision is also in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of having a tribal leader for the top job, considering 32 per cent of the population is tribal.

#WATCH | Raipur: BJP leader Vishnu Deo Sai to become the next Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. pic.twitter.com/PtAOM52JKa

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2023

Sai won the recently concluded assembly election from Kunkuri in north Chhattisgarh, a region the saffron party has swept. Even though the BJP was never the first choice of the tribal community, it was able to change the tide and win eight of the 12 seats in Bastar and all 14 in the tribal-dominated Surguja. Who is Vishnu Deo Sai? Born on 21 February 1964 to a farmer’s family in Bagia village of Jashpur district, Sai has been a sarpanch, a multiple-time MLA and MP, the party’s state president and a Union Minister, according to The Times of India. His family comes from the powerful Sahu (Teli) community, which is well-represented in the divisions of Durg, Raipur, and Bilaspur.

Sai completed his higher secondary education at Kunkuri, Jashpur’s Loyola Higher Secondary School. He attended Ambikapur for his graduation, but he left midway to return to his village in 1988. Before joining politics, he was an agriculturalist by profession, as per India Today. In political scene, he is regarded as someone who rose through the ranks of the BJP having started from the bottom. The 59-year-old first entered politics in 1980 when he was elected as a sarpanch of Bagia village. In 1990, he was elected to the Assembly for the first time, representing the Tapkara seat. According to Hindustan Times, BJP’s Dilip Singh Judev (late) had encouraged Sai to enter electoral politics.

VIDEO | Chhattisgarh CM-designate Vishnu Deo Sai welcomed by his family members in Raipur. pic.twitter.com/iqgluK1aHF

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 10, 2023

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After winning the Raigarh constituency in the Lok Sabha in 1999, he became an MP and remained so until 2019. In 2006, the BJP also appointed him as the state president, as per NDTV. In 2014, Narendra Modi appointed him as the Center’s Minister of State. Sai was not offered a Lok Sabha ticket in 2019 after the party fell to the Congress in the state elections of 2018. Instead, he was given a challenging task of leading the BJP as state president in 2020 as the party was reconstructed for the next two years.

On “World Tribal Day” in 2022, outgoing CM Bhupesh Bhagel would frequently criticise Sai, claiming that the BJP had humiliated tribal people by ousting him from office, as per News18. However, Sai’s self-control and refusal to criticise his party served him well. As a member of the party’s Rashtriya Karya Samiti, he was also granted a position in the central BJP leadership. The four-term MP is also known for his organisational capability and enjoys a clean image in the eyes of the public. Strong political connections Sai is also believed to have the support of former CM Raman Singh, who is the state’s tallest leader for BJP. Singh moved a resolution endorsing his name at the legislative party meeting and had previously recommended his name to the party high command. Raman Singh will become the party’s speaker, and Arun Sao, an OBC, and Vijay Sharma, an upper-caste person, would serve as deputy chief ministers, according to News18.

#WATCH | 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, earlier today. pic.twitter.com/TAhzeBj64E

— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2023

Sai also has good connections with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with his family having close links with the RSS, and hence he ticks all the boxes, a BJP leader told News18. During the campaign, Home Minister Amit Shah had told the people that if they elect Sai, the party will give him a bigger post. BJP’s focus on tribal  The ruling party at the Centre has also conveyed a strong message to the tribal population in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh by appointing a tribal person for the top job. The BJP’s success in tribal belt is further fueled by the appointment of Droupadi Murmu, a tribal woman, as President of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrating Birsa Munda's birth anniversary as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, and launching numerous welfare schemes for tribals throughout the nation. In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, the BJP hopes to win every seat held by a tribal group. “As the Chief Minister, I will try to fulfil PM Modi’s guarantees through the government,” Sai said while expressing gratitude to the PM, Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, and other party leaders. His government’s first task, he stated, will be to sanction 18 lakh houses to beneficiaries of a housing scheme.