In no mood to lose any time ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections, the BJP has named Kiran Singh Deo as the new Chhattisgarh unit chief, aiming to win all 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state under his stewardship. The appointment of the first-time MLA coming within a week of the party’s new government taking oath shows the urgency within the party to prepare for the next big battle.
Singh Deo will be replacing Lormi legislator of the party Arun Sao who has assumed charge of Deputy Chief Minister under Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai,
Kiran Singh Deo, 61, an MLA from Jagdalpur of the Bastar region, has been tasked with the role to expand the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha election and win all 11 seats as part of Mission 2024, said a party leader. The NDA had won 9 out of the 11 LS seat in 2019.
“Taking to people the message of BJP’s resolve to provide 18 lakh residential dwellings under PM Awas Yojana will be the first priority of the new state chief,” said party leader Amit Chimnani. Earlier, Singh Deo contested the only unreserved seat of the Bastar region that is from Jagdalpur constituency where he defeated Congress candidate Jeetan Jaiswal by around 29,000 votes.
A lawyer by profession, Singh Deo is considered as one of the most reliable faces in the party who has performed at various roles in the organisation. He also contested and won the municipal corporation elections of Jagdalpur and became the mayor of the town in the year 2009, a position he held till 2014. He was also in-charge of the Bilaspur division of the BJP before the commencement of state assembly elections.
In another interesting turn of events, former MP and senior tribal leader Nand Kumar Sai tendered his resignation from the Congress in the state, fuelling speculation that he might return to the BJP fold in the coming days. Sai had joined the Grand Old Party just months before the Assembly election.
The five-time MP and BJP MLA Nand Kumar Sai was denied a ticket by the Congress in the Assembly election. Belonging to the tribal community, Kumar Sai first contested elections in undivided Madhya Pradesh in 1977 and was elected as an MLA. Later, Sai was elected as a member of the Lok Sabha in 1989 and 1996.
After the creation of Chhattisgarh, Sai emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha election of 2004, which he contested from the tribal-dominated Sarguja seats. Sai was also given a Rajya Sabha ticket in 2009, a seat that he held till the year 2016.
Considered one of the tallest leaders from the tribal community, Nand Kumar Sai’s sudden resignation from the BJP ahead of Assembly elections had put a big question mark over the party’s chances in the tribal belt. However, the BJP managed to perform well despite the exit of Sai, bagging 8 out of 12 seats of the tribal-dominated southern Chhattisgarh.
For the emphatic win, the BJP rewarded Vishnu Deo Sai, another leader from the tribal community, with the CM’s post in Chhattisgarh. Deo Sai has, thus, become the first tribal Chief Minister of the state.