Chhattisgarh Chief Minister-designate Vishnu Deo Sai offered prayers at the Jagannath temple here on Wednesday, ahead of his swearing-in ceremony scheduled later in the day.
He also paid tributes to freedom fighter Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by garlanding their statues at different places in state capital Raipur, officials said.
Sai (59) performed customary rituals at the Jagannath temple in the morning and prayed for peace, progress and prosperity in Chhattisgarh, a statement issued by the state public relations department said.
BJP MLA from Raipur City North Purandar Mishra accompanied him to the temple.
Later, Sai reached his residence in Purena area here and sought his mother’s blessings.
The CM-designate along with his wife Kaushalya Devi Sai performed ‘Navgrah’ puja at their house, the statement said.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new CM is scheduled at 4 pm at the Science College ground here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma and CMs of other states will attend the event.
Shah and Nadda have arrived in Raipur to take part in the event.
Sai was elected as the BJP’s legislature party leader at a meeting of 54 newly-elected MLAs held at the party’s state headquarters here on Sunday.
The BJP won 54 out of the total 90 assembly seats in the recently held state elections, reducing Congress’ tally to 35. The Gondwana Gantantra Party managed to win one seat.
