Vishnu Deo Sai, the newly appointed Chief Minister, and his cabinet will take oath on Wednesday, December 13. The date was announced on Monday evening through a press statement issued by the government.
Apart from Mr. Sai and two Deputy Chief Ministers, several other Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs are expected to take oaths at the Science College grounds in the capital, Raipur. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other top BJP leaders are scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
“The programme will be attended by Union Home Minister Mr. Amit Shah, BJP National President Mr. J P Nadda, Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, [BJP] Chhattisgarh State in-charge Mr. Om Mathur, co-in-charge Mr. Nitin Nabin and chief Ministers and senior leaders of many States will be present,” the statement said.
While speculations around members of the new cabinet have started gathering momentum, the BJP has not made any announcement so far. With the party recording its highest-ever tally of 54, in the 90-member Assembly in 2023, and only 13 ministerial berths — including the CM — on offer, there is no dearth of aspirants. These include old faces of the previous BJP governments that ruled for three terms, and new faces as well. The party will have to balance regional, caste, and gender equations as well.
The Chief Minister, and BJP State President Arun Sao through audio conference, congratulated more than 25,000 booth-level workers of BJP for the party’s electoral victory, crediting their hard work and invited them to reach the Science College for the swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, officials and some BJP MLAs reached the venue and took stock of the preparations. Among them was former Minister and newly elected MLA from Narayanpur Assembly Kedar Kashyap, Raigarh MLA Mr. O.P. Choudhary and MLA Balodabazar Tankram Verma.
