The BJP named Bilaspur MP Arun Sao as the Chhattisgarh party president on Tuesday, ahead of the Assembly elections in the Congress-ruled state next year.

“BJP chief JP Nadda has appointed Bilaspur MP Arun Sao as Chhattisgarh party president, with immediate effect” the party said in a statement.

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Arun Sao is an Indian politician. He is 53 years old. In the 2019 Indian general election, he was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. 

Sao has long served the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Sao, an Other Backward Class (OBC) member, has succeeded prominent tribal leader and former Union minister Vishnu Deo Sai, who has led the state BJP since June 2020.

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Sao is a lawyer by profession and has been involved in various activities as a member of the ABVP and other organisations since 1990.

Sao is married to Meena Rao, they have a son.

Sao was summoned to Delhi three days ago to discuss his role following the replacement. Sao, the BJP’s tribal face in Chhattisgarh, was a member of Parliament from undivided Madhya Pradesh and then Chhattisgarh. He even held the portfolios of Steel, Mines, and Labour Employment while serving as Minister of State.

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On November 12 and 20, 2018, respectively, two phases of the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly elections were held. In the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, Congress won 68 of the state’s 90 seats. The Janata Congress Chhattisgarh Jogi-Bahujan Samaj Party (JCCJ-BSP) combination won seven seats, while the BJP was reduced to only 15 seats.

From 2003 to 2018, the BJP ruled Chhattisgarh for 15 years. The Chhattisgarh Assembly elections will take place at the end of 2023.