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BILASPUR. Ahead of assembly polls scheduled next year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday appointed Member of Parliament (MP) Arun Sao as the new state president of Chhattisgarh with immediate effect replacing Vishnudeo Sai. Sao was elected to Lok Sabha for the first time from Bilaspur constituency in 2019. BJP was exploring the possibility of new leadership in Chhattisgarh before the next year assembly polls to end factionalism. BJP has been in power in Chhattisgarh for 15-years from 2003-2018. Sources claimed that central leadership was not happy with the performance of Chhattisgarh BJP unit for raising issues on current affairs. Arun Sao has worked with the organization for a long time. He started working as an activist of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) before he remained active in Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). He has a long experience of working in the organization for which BJP made him its candidate from Bilaspur seat in the last assembly elections of 2019. Since then he continued his activism regarding the organization from Parliament to his area and in other areas of the state.

The stature of Bilaspur district suddenly increased in Chhattisgarh BJP when Bilaspur MP Arun Sao was appointed as the state president of party at the organization level. The central leadership of BJP is not taking lightly the assembly elections scheduled next year, first by appointing one of the most active party members Purandeshwari as the Chhattisgarh in-charge, followed by the appointment of Jamwant as organization minister and now replacing Vishnudev Sai, who comes from the tribal class and appointing Arun Sao from OBC Category. However Sai is likely to be promoted as National Vice President of party’s backward unit with position of cabinet minister. Political experts believe that the balance of votes can be disturbed with both Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik and State President Arun Sao hailing from OBC category and thus the post of Leader of Opposition can be given to general quota from outside Bilaspur district. Arun Sao was working as Deputy Advocate General in Chhattisgarh High Court before becoming MP. In the year 2003, he was an office bearer of BJYM and soon after the formation of BJP government in state he became Government Advocate in High Court. During the last general elections former Minister Amar Agarwal played a crucial role in getting him ticket from Bilaspur seat. Most surprisingly on World Tribal Day, BJP declared Bilaspur MP Arun Sahu as the new state president replacing tribal leader Vishnudev Sai and giving importance to the backward classes. Now questions are being raised within the party that if backward class gets the post of state president whether the Leader of the Opposition will also be changed. Although there is no clear indication in this context, but this may lead to a contest among the factional leaders of BJP.

It is worth mentioning that at the time of Presidential election, BJP had invited its Scheduled Caste MLAs from Chhattisgarh including former ministers Punnulal Mohile, Damru Dhar Pujari and Nankiram Kanwar to Delhi. After Draupadi Murmi was elected President of India, it was expected that BJP would give more preferences to the leaders of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in Chhattisgarh for the post of state president. With both state president Arun Sao and Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik hailing from Bilaspur, it seems BJP was giving more importance to Bilaspur district and the dominance of Bilaspur district has increased in state. BJP has entrusted more responsibility to Arun Sao as a youth leadership and this will be a big test for him from the point of view of assembly elections next year. MP Arun Sao will have to work hard from an organizational point of view.