Chhattisgarh BJP govt may have deputy CM, says Raman Singh

Raipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh may have a deputy chief minister, senior leader Raman Singh said on Sunday ahead of a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs in the state.

The BJP won 54 seats in the 90-member Assembly in the recently held polls, unseating the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government. The Congress ended with 35 seats, down from 68 it won in 2018.

The BJP's legislative party meeting, with all 54 MLAs in attendance, is underway at Kushabhau Thakre Parisar, the party's state headquarter here.

Three observers, Union ministers Arjun Munda and Sarbananda Sonowal and party general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam, are also present along with the party's in charge for Chhattisgarh Om Mathur, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and co-in-charge for the state Nitin Nabin.

Talking to reporters before leaving from his residence to attend the meeting, Raman Singh said it will be clear who will be chief minister after the meeting of the legislative party.

However, when queried on whether the announcement on the CM would be made during the day itself, he repeated that "everything will be clear after the meeting".

"Deputy CM will also be appointed along with others. There is no issue," Singh told reporters.