BJP’s spectacular comeback with its best ever performance – winning 55 seats – has been followed by frenzied speculation over who gets to sit on the CM’s chair. Congress’s loss is no short of a decimation if one looks at the fall from 71 seats in the previous assembly to 34 in this election. BJP had gone into the election under a “collective leadership” model.
Dr Raman Singh who was the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh from 2003 to 2018 is still the tallest BJP leader in the state. Dr Singh hails from the Kshatriya community. If the central BJP leadership goes for a candidate from the General category, there is no leader but Dr. Singh who could make it to the CM’s chair. As was evident during the ticket distribution it was Dr Singh whose supporters got the most number of tickets to contest the election.
OP Choudhary or Arun Sao?
But, after Bhupesh Baghel became the Chief Minister in 2018, the politics of the state became more centered around the OBCs. Therefore, if the BJP deems it necessary to cater to the OBC aspirations and consolidate their support for the party, there are many OBC faces in the party who could make it to the CM’s chair.
One highly probable candidate for the post is OP Choudhary, the young MLA from Raigarh who won the election with a margin of more than 64,000 votes, the second highest in the state. Choudhary is popular across Chhattisgarh, especially among the youth. He is virtually the eyes and ears of the central leadership in this central Indian state and a confidante of Amit Shah. He was an IAS officer, who served as District Collector of Raipur, before resigning from the service to join the BJP.
Arun Sao the State BJP President is another leader from the OBC grouping who is also a probable candidate for the post. Sao, a Member of Parliament from Bilaspur, was made the state president of the BJP in 2022. He comes from the influential Sahu community. Vijay Baghel who is an MP from Durg and contested against the incumbent Bhupesh Baghel in Patan assembly seat, is also figuring in discussions.
A CM From The Tribal Community?
If the party decides to go for a tribal Chief Minister, Vishnu Deo Sai, Renuka Singh and Ramvichar Netam are the names that are doing rounds in Raipur. BJP in this election won 17 out of 29 tribal seats. Congress had won 25 out of the 29 tribal seats in 2018. This signifies how tribal voters have mobilised their support for the BJP in this election.
It would not be easy to ignore the claims of the tribal community to the CM post. The central leadership of the party may announce the name of the next CM of Chhattisgarh in a day or two. But it has to be said that in the era of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah there have been surprises too many when a Chief Minister is announced.
Recall that the likes of Manohar Lal Khattar, Raghubar Das, Yogi Adityanath, PS Dhami etc were big surprises. So the suspense continues in Raipur.
Harsh Dubey is a political commentator based in Raipur. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of the publication.
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