The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has named Vishnu Deo Sai as the new Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, where the party wrested power from the Congress in the recently concluded Assembly polls by bagging 54 of the total 90 seats.
Sai (59) had earlier served as Union Minister of State for Steel, Mines, Labour and Employment during the first tenure of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government.
The decision to name Sai for the chief ministerial post was taken at the BJP legislature party meeting here, sources said on Sunday.
The meeting was held in the presence of three observers appointed by the central BJP leadership.
The BJP central leadership has appointed Union Ministers Arjun Munda, Sarbananda Sonowal, and party general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam as observers for Chhattisgarh.
The meeting was attended by 54 newly elected MLAs, including former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh.
Speculations suggested that the party might give another CM term to the veteran BJP.
However, this time, the BJP has appointed a fresh face for the CM post.
Sai was earlier appointed as the chief of the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit in 2020, two years after the party faced a rout in the Assembly polls.
He was replaced by Arun Sao in August 2022, around a year before the recently concluded Chhattisgarh polls.