Bilaspur MP Arun Sao appointed Chhattisgarh BJP chief

Ahead of the Chhattisgarh Assembly polls next year, Bharatiya Janata on Tuesday appointed Bilaspur MP Arun Sao as the president of its Chhattisgarh unit.

Sao was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bilaspur in the 2019 general elections on a BJP ticket.

"National President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Hon'ble Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda Ji has appointed Shri Arun Sao, MP, Bilaspur Lok Sabha as the State President of Chhattisgarh Bharatiya Janata Party," the party said in a statement.

Earlier, a former Lok Sabha member Vishnudev Sai was the president of the BJP in Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in 2023. BJP led by former chief minister Raman Singh ruled Chhattisgarh for 15 years from 2003 to 2018. Currently, the state is ruled by Congress with Bhupesh Baghel as the chief minister.

The 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly elections were held in two phases on November 12, 2018, and the second on November 20, 2018. In 2018, Congress in Chhattisgarh Assembly polls won 68 of the total 90 seats. The BJP was reduced to only 15 seats while the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi-Bahujan Samaj Party (JCCJ-BSP) combine won seven seats.

( With inputs from ANI )