RAIPUR: In yet another surprise to everyone including the political analysts in Chhattisgarh, predictable prominent names among the ten elected Lok Sabha members from the state were left aside, as PM Narendra Modi chose Tokhan Sahu, 54, while constituting his new cabinet team on Sunday. He took oath as minister of state in the union cabinet.
Belonging to Chhattisgarh’s influential OBC Sahu community, he contested the parliamentary polls for the first time on a BJP ticket this year and defeated his nearest rival Congress candidate Devendra Yadav by a margin of 16,45,58 votes in Bilaspur Lok Sabha constituency. He began his political career by getting elected unopposed as a panch of Surajpura gram panchayat in 1994 and later in 2005 was janpad panchayat member in Lormi development block.
A post-graduate and resident of Mungeli about 110 km from Raipur, he earlier represented the Lormi assembly segment during the BJP government led by Raman Singh during 2013-18. He was then appointed as a parliamentary secretary. He was later denied a ticket twice for the state Assembly polls. BJP won ten out of eleven Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh.
He is presently the state president of Kisan Morcha. His selection, showcasing a distinct working style, also came as a surprise to many BJP leaders.
Kisan Morcha
He is presently the state president of Kisan Morcha. His selection, showcasing a distinct work style of PM, also came as a surprise to many leaders
Master’s degree
A post-graduate and resident of Mungeli, he represented the Lormi assembly segment during the BJP government in 2013-18.