Tamradhwaj Sahu, the OBC Leader Who Could be Next Chhattisgarh CM

Sahu is the Congress MP from Durg and is the All India Congress Committee’s OBC cell chairman.

File photo of Chhattisgarh MP Tamradhwaj Sahu.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Tamradhwaj Sahu IV)

As the Congress swept the Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, names of Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahan are being considered for the post of chief minister.

However, according to media reports, Sahu, Congress MP from Durg, seems to be the front-runner for the top post.

A non-controversial, 69-year-old Tamradhwaj Sahu, belongs to the Sahu backward community and is All India Congress Committee’s (AICC’s) OBC cell chairman.

Sahu community accounts for nearly 14 percent of the state’s population.

He has been working with the state’s backward community to understand their issues, which in turn has helped him in galvanising votes in favour of the Congress party.

Sahu’s Big Win During 2014 Elections

Sahu contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the Durg seat and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s leader Saroj Pandey by a margin of nearly 16,000 votes and emerged as a prominent leader in the state.

The victory was event more important for the Congress as the party had lost all the seats in the state other than Durg.

Sahu was made the chairperson of the AICC OBC cell in July 2018.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Tamradhwaj Sahu IV)

Sahu’s Tryst With Politics

Sahu’s political journey with the Congress party started in the year 1975 as a worker, and he rose the ranks over the years. In 1977, he was made head of the block Congress in Durg. He was then elected as an MLA for the Dhamdaha constituency in erstwhile Madhya Pradesh in 1988.

Sahu has also served in the Cabinet of Ajit Jogi from 2000 to 2003, after the bifurcation of the state.

In 2003, he again won the elections in Dhamdaha. However, in 2007 he was shifted from his Dhamdaha constituency to Bemetara, but Sahu managed to win the seat. However, prior to the Lok Sabha elections, Sahu faced defeat from the Bemetara seat during the 2013 Chhattisgarh Assembly election.

Sahu’s Closeness With Rahul Gandhi

Reportedly, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is considered to be close to Sahu.

Rahul Gandhi with Bhupesh Baghel, TS Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charan Das Mahan.(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@RahulGandhi)

Firstly, he was made the party’s observer in Odisha. Later in 2018, prior to Karnataka and Meghalaya elections, he was made a part of the screening committee, which is responsible to giving tickets to candidates.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, Sahu was personally picked by Rahul Gandhi to contest from the Durg Rural seat during the 2018 Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.