Chhattisgarh BJP gets new president

Arun Sao has worked extensively with ABVP and BJYM

With 14 months left for next year’s Assembly election in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday appointed Bilaspur Lok Sabha member Arun Sao as the new president of the party’s State unit.

Mr. Sao, 53, a first-time MP who hasn’t held any significant organisational post in the party so far, has replaced one of Chhattisgarh BJP’s tribal faces and three-time State unit president, Vishnu Deo Sai, whose latest tenure lasted for over two years.

Mr. Sao has extensive experience of working in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) student wing — the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — and the BJP’s youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. His appointment was announced immediately after the party’s newly appointed general secretary, organisation (for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) Ajay Jamwal concluded his Chhattisgarh visit, prompting speculation of a change of guard.

“I am happy that the BJP has chosen an ordinary worker like me to lead the State unit ahead of the next year’s Assembly election. I will take everyone along and put in efforts to ensure that we return to power,” said Mr. Sao. He was congratulated by former Chief Minister Raman Singh and leader of the Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik.

Party sources said there was a buzz about a change of guard for a while as back-to-back bypoll losses had gone against Mr. Sai. “It was also discussed that in Madhya Pradesh the appointment of such a face who had cut his teeth in the ABVP [V.D. Sharma with an RSS background and little legislative experience before he became a first-time MP from Khajuraho] had worked well and the party wanted to repeat the experiment,” said a former BJP MLA.

Mr. Sao hails from the Sahu community, which is the largest constituent under the OBC umbrella with Kurmis being the second. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel of the Congress is from the Kurmi caste and the OBC votes ensured his victory in the last election.

Between them, the various OBCs (nearly 45%) and tribal (33%) communities comprise a lion’s share of the electorate in Chhattisgarh. The party president’s post has been held mostly by the representatives of these two communities.