Vishnu Deo Sai

Sai is a grassroots BJP leader, a two-time MLA and four-time Lok Sabha member. He won the Kunkuri seat in Surguja tribal belt comfortably. Although from a tribal community, Sai practises Hinduism and has also been involved in “ghar wapsi” campaign — the “reconversion” of people to Hinduism — in the Surguja tribal belt. He was backed by the late Dilip Singh Judeo, from the erstwhile royal family of Jashpur, who, too, was involved in the campaign.

The BJP has attempted to calibrate the Chhattisgarh power structure keeping in mind all sections — the CM (Sai) is a tribal face, and a Brahmin (Sharma) and OBC (Sao) are deputy CMs.

From being replaced as Chhattisgarh BJP president last year by OBC face Arun Sao, former Union Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, in a remarkable turnaround, was appointed the state’s new Chief Minister on Sunday.

In, perhaps, the first indication of his elevation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised to make Sai a “bada aadmi” if the BJP was voted to power. Addressing a poll rally in Sai’s Kunkuri constituency last month, Shah had said: “Aap usse vidhayak banao, mein usse bada aadmi banaunga (You make him an MLA, I will make him a big man)”.

A four-time Lok Sabha MP, Sai was made Chhattisgarh BJP chief three times — in 2006, 2011 and 2020. But his last term was cut short, as he was replaced last year, ahead of the Assembly polls. In July this year, Sai was named a member of the BJP national executive.

Sai, who hails from the Surguja tribal belt in north Chhattisgarh, where the BJP swept all the 14 seats, is among the party’s most senior tribal leaders in the state. By choosing Vishnu Deo Sai as Chhattisgarh CM, the BJP has taken forward its tribal outreach, months before the Lok Sabha polls. Sai hails from the Surguja belt, where the party won all the 14 seats.

Born in Jashpur district, Sai comes from a family with a political background. Three of his family members were elected representatives (Assembly and Lok Sabha) in the 1940s to 1970s.

The late BJP leader Dilip Singh Judeo, known for leading the “ghar wapsi” campaign in Chhattisgarh, was among those who backed Sai, whose political career began in the 1980s.

Starting from the gram panchayat elections, Sai rose through the ranks, making his way to the Assembly in undivided Madhya Pradesh, where he represented Tapkara constituency for two terms from 1990-1998.

He then moved on to the Lok Sabha, being elected from Raigarh four times (1999 to 2019). After the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre in 2014, Sai was made Union minister. However, he was denied a party ticket in 2019.

In between, after Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, Sai lost the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections twice – in 2003 and 2008 — from Pathalgaon seat.

This time, he won the Kunkuri seat in Surguja division by 25,541 votes. The BJP’s tally of 54 of the total 90 seats was propelled by its performance in the tribal regions in north and south.

In Surguja, the BJP wrested all 14 Assembly seats this time, dealing a massive blow to the Congress’s chances of retaining power. The Congress had swept the region in 2018. In the southern tribal belt of Bastar, the BJP won eight of the 12 seats.

The BJP was in power in Chhattisgarh for 15 years until 2018, when the Congress won 68 of the 83 Assembly seats.

But it returned to power on the back of tribal votes, winning 54 seats compared to the Congress’s 35 seats, its lowest tally since the state’s formation.