Vishnu Deo Sai takes oath as CM with deputies Sao and Sharma

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.

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP made the most of the big day, inviting its top leaders to the ceremony. Besides Modi and Shah, they following leaders were present — Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Ramdas Athawale, chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Assam Yogi Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP chief JP Nadda, former three-time Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and 54 BJP MLAs.

From the Congress, outgoing CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Deputy CM T S Singh Deo were among those in attendance.

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.

Before the ceremony, which began at 4 pm, Sai visited the Jagannath temple in Raipur to seek blessings. He also paid tribute to freedom fighter Veer Narayan Singh and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Sai also visited his mother and took her blessings, a government statement said. He and his wife, Kaushalya Devi Sai, performed a prayer ceremony at their residence.