Why Modi preferred Vishnu Deo Sai as the new Chhattisgarh CM

New Delhi: Two factors guided Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pick Vishnudeo Singh to be the new Chhattisgarh Chief Minister. One is a fresh face on the top post, considering his rising popularity in north Chhattisgarh, the Surguja region where BJP managed to swing away votes from the Congress. 

The BJP won all 14 assembly seats in the tribal-dominated Surguja region and eight of the 12 seats in Bastar.

Secondly, Sai has a non-controversial image.

Also, he presents some kind of continuity: he is close to former Chief Minister Raman Singh, who has so far been the party's tallest leader in the state. He served three terms as CM.

Sai's advantage is that he has administrative experience, having served as a minister of state in Modi's first term as PM. No wonder, his words were: he would fulfil the promises made to the people of Chhattisgarh under "Modi ki guarantee."

As an organisational man, Sai is also close to several RSS leaders. He is the senior-most tribal leader in the BJP.

Sai will have two deputy chief ministers, one of whom could be a woman. 

Earlier, the speculation was Modi would go for a woman CM, perhaps, Renuka Singh who is also a tribal leader.

He has been a four-term MP: he won four consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the Raigarh constituency from 1999 to 2014.

He headed the Chhattisgarh unit of the party from 2020 to 2022.

After Sai was announced as CM, many BJP leaders could not help but recall that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had thrown hints last month at a poll rally in Kunkuri last month. He had asked the voters to elect Sai, promising to make him a "big man" if the party comes back to power in the state.

The announcement of Sai as CM came after a key meeting of the BJP’s newly-elected 54 MLAs was held in Raipur.

Sai was no doubt among the top CM post contenders. But before Modi expressed his preference, Sai was not considered the frontrunner in a contest among Raman Singh and Renuka Singh. 

However, in a surprise, the observers who spoke to the newly elected MLAs announced Sai's name. 

Sai becomes Chhattisgarh's second tribal chief minister after Ajit Jogi. In August 2019, a high-level judicial committee dismissed Jogi's claim of belonging to a Scheduled Tribe (ST) and cancelled all his caste certificates.