Vishnu Deo Sai sworn in as Chhattisgarh chief minister

NEW DELHI: BJP tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday took oath as Chhattisgarh chief minister in Raipur.

The oath ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda and chief ministers of other states.

The swearing ceremony took place at Science college ground in Chhattisgarh's Raipur. The oath was administered by governor Biswabhusan Harichandan.

Sai's name was announced as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh on Sunday afternoon after a key meeting of the BJP's newly-elected 54 MLAs in the state was held in Raipur.

He won the Kunkuri Assembly seat with a total of 87,604 votes.

He served as the state president of the party for Chhattisgarh from 2020 until 2022. He was the Union minister of state for mines and steel in PM Modi's first cabinet. He is highly regarded among tribal voters.


The new chief minister started his political career as a village sarpanch. In 1989, he was elected as a 'panch' of Bagia village panchayat and the next year he became the sarpanch unopposed.

Vishnu Deo won four consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the Raigarh constituency from 1999 to 2014. He was not given a ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.


Of the 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh, the BJP bagged 54 while the Congress won 35.

(With input from agencies)