Arun Sao, Vijay Sharma named Dy CMs in Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh speaker

New Delhi: With the Bharatiya Janata Party picking its prominent tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai as Chhattisgarh chief minister, OBC face Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, who defeated Congress’ Mohammed Akbar from Kawardha, will be his deputies.

State BJP chief Arun Sao had resigned as an MP after being elected as an MLA.

Sao hails from the influential Sahu (Teli) community which has a sizable presence in Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur divisions. The OBCs account for around 45 percent of the state's population.

Appointing Sharma as Dy CM will reinforce Hindutva plank of the party further in the state. 

Kawardha election was in limelight after Congress complained to the Election Commission about Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for alleged inciting speech.

In one of his election speeches, Himanta said, “If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled.”

Mata Kaushalya, the mother of Lord Ram, is believed to hail from what is modern day Chhattisgarh.

On receiving a show-cause notice from the EC, Himanta defended his speech saying it was a "legitimate criticism" of Chhattisgarh minister Mohammed Akbar.

“Congress has withheld the material information from the Hon'ble Election Commission that Mohammed Akbar is their candidate from Kawardha Constituency. Therefore legitimate criticism of a candidate does not amount to communal politics," he wrote on X.

In Kawardha, Sharma defeated Akbar by 39,592 votes.

On the other hand, former chief minister and senior BJP leader Raman Singh will become Chhattisgarh Assembly speaker.