Vishnu Deo Sai, the former Chhattisgarh BJP president, will be the new chief minister of the state. The BJP had been in a huddle over the chief ministerial name since it scored a comfortable victory in Chhattisgarh, refuting election polls that predicted a tough fight with the Congress. Sai’s name was being counted among the frontrunners, along with former chief minister Raman Singh.

Sai had been the state president of the BJP between 2020 and 2022.He was the union minister of state for steel in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term. He was also the Lok Sabha member from the BJP representing Chhattisgarh’s Raipur constituency. He is a member of BJP’s national working committee.

After the formation of the Congress government in 2018, when the BJP restructured its organization, Vishnu Deo Sai was appointed as the state president of BJP. In 2022, Arun Sao replaced Sai as the party’s state unit chief. Vishnu Deo Sai has been unanimously chosen as the leader of the legislative assembly. BJP Leader OP Chaudhary said the BJP will take the state forward under his leadership. He said they will fulfill the responsibilities decided by the party. He said the BJP will give their 100% under the leadership of Vishnu Deo Sai.

Sai began his political career as a panchayat leader. He later remained a member of the Madhya Pradesh assembly between 1990 and 98. In 1999, he was elected to the 13^th Lok Sabha. He was later re-elected to the subsequent Lok Sabhas from Raipur. With his appointment as the chief Minister, the BJP eyes the sizable tribal votes in the state for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, Sai won from the Kunkuri Tribal seat with a margin of over 25000 votes. The BJP won 54 seats in Chhattisgarh, the Congress trailed behind with only 35 seats.   

Two shooters and one associate involved in the murder of Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi were arrested from Chandigarh by Delhi Crime Branch and Rajasthan Police. The two shooters Nitin Fauji and Rohit Rathore and a third person named Udham were arrested by police. The officials are verifying Udham’s role in Gogamedi’s murder.

Delhi Police brought Rohit and Udham to Delhi, while Nitin Fauji remains in the custody of Rajasthan police. Earlier police had announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to their arrest. According the police, after the murder, the accused hid their weapons and reached Hisar in Haryana from Rajasthan. Then they went to Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Later they returned to Chandigarh, where the arrest was made.

The shooters were traced by the police following their mobile phone locations. Dinesh MN, who is the head of the Central investigation team (SIT), confirmed the late night operation to the media. Additional Director General (crime) said their interrogation has started. He said they will be produced in court on Monday.

Gogamedi was shot dead on November 5 by unidentified assailants inside his house in Jaipur. Soon after the murder, gangster Rohit Godara who is associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility for Gogamedi’s murder, through a social media post. The police said that the shooters, while absconding, were in contact with Godara’s close aids Virendra Chahan and Danaram, on whose instructions the murder was carried out.

Earlier in the day, the Jaipur police announced that another man, identified as one of the conspirators in the Gogamedi murder, was arrested. The accused Ramveer Jat, had, according to the police, prepared the ground work for his friend Fauji in Jaipur ahead of the killing. The murder of the Karni Sena chief was captured on CCTV, and the footage showed two men firing multiple shots at Gogamedi, with another man standing at the door.    

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said the party has no connection with businesses of Dheeraj Sahu, the MP in whose premises the income tax department has recovered about Rs 300 crore of unaccounted cash. Ramesh said only he can explain and should explain how huge amounts of cash have been reportedly recovered by the income tax officials from his properties.

The cash was recovered during raids by the Income Tax Department at many locations linked to Dheeraj Sahu in Odisha and Jharkhand. The raids on Sahu’s premises in the neighbouring states started on Wednesday. According to Income tax department officials the amount of sized cash is expected reach Rs 300 crore. According to reports the cash seized in the raids is the highest ever black money haul by any agency in a single operation. Most of the cash that was recovered from premises linked to Boudh Distillery Private Limited in Odisha.

The cash siezed by the income tax department has kicked up a political storm, with BJP leaders slamming the Congress. PM Modi took to X(formerly Twitter)to comment on the raids. He added that the money looted from the public will be returned. PM Modi said the countrymen should look at the pile of these notes and then listen to the honest speeches of their leaders. PM Modi said whatever has been looted from the public, every penny will have to be returned.

Protest have started taking place nationwide within the BJP following the discovery of crores of rupees in black money linked to Congress MP Dheeraj Sahuduring an IT raid. In Vadodara, the streets resonated with loud slogans and placard waving banners as BJP leaders and officials fervently joined the demonsatration. A large number of BJP workers under the leadership of its Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva marched towards the Congress headquarters. However they were stopped by the police. Later they were taken to Tughlak Road police station.