Who will be Chhattisgarh CM likely to be decided today

 

A meeting is being held in Chhattisgarh on Sunday to elect the leader of BJP's legislative party.

In this, 54 MLAs of the party are participating who have won the elections. The suspense over the name of the Chief Minister may end after the leader of the legislative party is elected in the meeting.

Party president Arun Sao had told reporters that there would be a meeting to elect the leader of the legislative party on Sunday.

Party observers, Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal and BJP General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam will be present in it.

BJP's Chhattisgarh in-charge Om Mathur, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Chhattisgarh's co-in-charge Nitin Nabeen will also participate in the meeting.

The names of Raman Singh, Vishnudev Sai, OP Chaudhary, Ram Vichar Netam, Arun Sao and Union Minister Renuka Singh are in the race for the post of Chief Minister in Chhattisgarh.

While the BJP won 54 of the 90 seats in the state, the Congress, which had won 68 seats in 2018, was reduced to 35 seats. The Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) managed to win one seat in the assembly elections.

The BJP fought the elections without naming any chief ministerial candidate. The observers are expected to chair the meeting of the newly elected MLAs and pick up the suitable candidate with maximum support.

Speculation is rife that the BJP might opt for an OBC or tribal leader as Chief Minister if it doesn't choose the seasoned party veteran Raman Singh, who served as Chief Minister three times from 2003 to 2018.

Raman Singh, presently the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs at the Centre, contested and won the Bharatpur-Sonhat assembly seat by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes. In the event of the BJP leaning towards a female leader, Renuka Singh emerges as a potential candidate for the top position.

Alternatively, should the BJP decide on a tribal representative, Vishnu Deo Sai, the party's former state chief and a former union minister, stands as a viable choice. He held the role of State President of the BJP for Chhattisgarh from 2020 to 2022.

Raman Singh remains a formidable candidate, given his current position as the national Vice President of the BJP and his continuous tenure as a member of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly since 2004. He also served as a Minister of State in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1999.

Another contender for the top post is the former Rajya Sabha MP, Ramvichar Netam, who previously held the position of Cabinet Minister overseeing various portfolios in Raman Singh's ministry.