Now it's time for the BJP to name its chief ministerial candidate as it has emerged as the single-largest party in the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections with 53 out of the 90 seats in the House.
Choosing the candidate is not going to be an easy task for the saffron camp. It had brought former chief minister Raman Singh back to the state only towards the end after it failed to find an alternative to match his name recall. The BJP will also have to consider factors such as balancing the caste and regional equations while keeping in mind the aspirations of its old and new faces.
The state may also get its first woman chief minister as the names of Raigarh MP Gomti Sai and Union minister Renuka Singh have been doing the rounds.
Also read: From disarray to sterling victory, this BJP win has few parallels in Indian politics
Renuka Singh
The Union minister of state for tribal affairs had turned the tide for the BJP in North Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja in the last Lok Sabha polls. Her win in 2019 by 1.57 lakh votes came a year after the Congress had won all 14 Assembly seats in the division. In 2023, she defeated Congress leader Gulab Kamor and ensured a rout for the party in Sarguja. She led Kamor by 5,433 votes after 13 rounds of counting.
The 59-year-old was a member of the social welfare board in the state before becoming a two-time MLA from Premnagar in the Surguja division. Her comeback in 2019 vaulted her to a ministerial position in the Narendra Modi government.
Gomti Sai
The Raigarh MP made her foray into politics in 2005 at the panchayat level. An Anganwadi worker, she became the head of the Jashpur zila panchayat. In 2019, she was selected by the BJP brass to fight the Lok Sabha polls from Raigarh. This seat was held by then BJP state president Vishnu Dev Sai. According to News18, Sai has made a mark by regularly raising issues of the people of Jashpur in the Lok Sabha. In the Assembly polls, she beat Ram Kumar Singh of the Congress, a nine-time MLA from Pathalgaon. Local BJP workers told News18 if Sai gets the top job, it will only underline that in the saffron party, it is only hard work that is rewarded.
BJP national president JP Nadda remained noncommittal on the issue when asked in Parliament on Monday. “This issue will be discussed within the party at the right time,” he said.
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