Amit Shah congratulates Vishnu Dev Sai, Arun Sao after being sworn in as Chhattisgarh CM, deputy
Dec 13, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 13 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated Vishnu Deo Sai and Arun Sao after they took oath as the chief minister and the deputy chief minister of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
Taking to his official handle on X, Shah commended Chhattisgarh's first tribal chief minister and his deputy, Shah posted, "Many congratulations to Shri @vishnudsaiji on taking oath as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and Shri @ArunSao3ji and Shri Vijay Sharma ji on taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister."
"Under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodiji, it will be the priority of the BJP government to raise the standard of living of our tribals, farmers and poor sisters and brothers in Chhattisgarh and to provide corruption-free governance," he added.
Shah also expressed his gratitude to the people of Chhattisgarh for bringing the BJP to power in the state.
"I express my gratitude to the people of Chhattisgarh for electing a people-friendly and people-dedicated government," the Union Home Minister added in his post.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Sai, a tribal leader and former Union minister, was administered the oath of office as the chief minister at an event in Raipur, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and senior leaders and chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states.
Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan read the CM his oath at the Science College grounds in Raipur.
Vijay Sharma and Arun Sao also took oaths as the deputy chief ministers of the state.
BJP national president JP Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were among the other dignitaries at the swearing-in ceremony.
Former Chattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel was also present at the event.
After days of suspense, Sai was named the BJP's pick as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh on Sunday afternoon after a key meeting of the party's newly-elected 54 MLAs in Raipur.
Sai won the Kunkuri Assembly seat, bagging a total of 87,604 votes.
A prominent figure in the BJP, Sai has served the party and people in various capacities including that of the state chief and Union minister. He hails from the influential Sahu (Teli) community, which has a sizable presence in the Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur divisions.
He served as the BJP state president from 2020 until 2022.
He was also the Union Minister of State for Mines and Steel in the first cabinet led by PM Modi.
Highly regarded among tribal voters, the new chief minister started his political career as a village sarpanch. In 1989, he was elected as the 'panch' of Bagia village panchayat and the following year, he became the sarpanch unopposed.
From a village sarpanch, Sai rose to be a Union Minister in the first Union cabinet under PM Modi. Sai lost in the 1998 Assembly polls after contesting the Pathalgaon seat.
However, he won four consecutive Lok Sabha elections from the Raigarh constituency from 1999 to 2014. But he was not given a ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Of the 90 assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh that went to polls last month, the BJP bagged 54 seats while the Congress's tally was reduced to 35.
