First tribal to be Chhattisgarh chief minister — Here’s the story of his rise from the grassroots

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai as its Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh, sending a strong message to the tribal community and going in for an experienced leader who will herald a generational change in the party.

He will be the state’s first tribal chief minister as Ajit Jogi’s tribal credentials were rejected by a committee.

59-year-old Sai has been a sarpanch, a multiple-time MLA and MP, the party’s state president and a Union Minister. He is seen as someone who has come from the grassroots and climbed the ladder in the BJP. Sai is also known as a man with a simple and unassuming demeanour who has always followed the party line and discipline. He was denied a Lok Sabha ticket from Raigarh in 2019 despite being an MP from the seat since 1999 and also a Union Minister then in the Narendra Modi government. But he worked like a disciplined party soldier and revived the party’s fortunes as the BJP state president between 2020 and 2022 after the BJP lost Chhattisgarh to the Congress.

Sai contested an assembly seat in these elections. He not only won his seat, Kunkuri, but delivered all seats of the Raigarh district for the BJP. The party performed well in the Surguja region of the state as a result of Sai’s efforts and he has been rewarded for the same. By choosing a tribal as the Chief Minister, the BJP has also sent out a big message to the tribal community in states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was recently in the village of tribal leader Birsa Munda in Jharkhand where a mega scheme for tribals was launched by the PM. The BJP aims to sweep all the tribal seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Sai is also seen as close to former Chief Minister Raman Singh and hence is said to have Singh’s blessings. Singh proposed his name to the party in earlier discussions and also moved the resolution at the legislature party meeting recommending his name. The BJP will be making Raman Singh the speaker, while it has chosen an OBC face in Arun Sao and an upper-caste face in Vijay Sharma as Deputy CMs.

Sai also has good connections with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with his family having close links with the RSS, and hence he ticks all the boxes, a BJP leader told News18. Sai also enjoys a clean image.

During the campaign, Home Minister Amit Shah had told the people that if they elect Sai, the party will give him a bigger post. Former CM Bhupesh Bhagel used to always take a swipe at Sai saying BJP had disrespected tribals by removing Sai as the state chief in 2022 on ‘World Tribal Day’. But Sai’s act of discipline and never speaking against his party worked in his favour.

Sai started his political career in 1980 when he was elected as a sarpanch of Bagia village and he became an MLA for the first time in 1990 from Tapkara seat.

In 1999, he entered the Lok Sabha after winning the Raigarh seat and continued as an MP till 2019. The BJP also made him the state president in 2006. Narendra Modi chose him as a Minister of State in 2014 in the Centre. After the party lost in the 2018 state elections to the Congress, Sai was not given the Lok Sabha ticket in 2019, but was given the onerous task as the BJP state president in 2020 to rebuild the party for the next two years.

He was given a position also in the central BJP leadership as a member of the Rashtriya Karya Samiti of the party. The BJP has now rewarded Sai for his hard work in Chhattisgarh on the ground. It is only the second time after Ajit Jogi that the state has got a tribal chief minister.