Chhattisgarh Assembly Elections: A look at the oldest and the youngest CMs of the state

Chhattisgarh is scheduled to vote in two phases, the first one on November 7 and second on November 17. While the results will be counted on December 3, let us take a look at the oldest and the youngest chief ministers to have held the position in the state so far. 

Chhattisgarh became its own separate state in 2000 and the first ever CM to preside the office was Congress’s Ajit Jogi. 

Youngest CM- Ajit Jogi

Ajit Jogi was in power from November 1, 2000 till December 5, 2003. Jogi was also the youngest CM of the state since he was 54 years old when he first became the chief minster of the state. Jogi earned his engineering degree with a gold medal from a university in Ujjain in 1964.

After that he qualified first for the Indian Police Service and then the Indian Administrative Service. After serving as collector for 12 years in various districts includingIndore and Raipur, Jogi resigned in 1986 and joined the Congress. His ambitious 'Jogi Dabri scheme' to develop small water sources won praise, but was later marred by corruption allegations.

When the Congress lost a third Assembly election in a row in 2013, knives were out for Jogi, and the party then made Bhupesh Baghel the state unit chief despite the fact that he did not share any bonhomie with Jogi.

Isolated, Jogi quit the Congress in 2016 after he and his son were accused of involvement in the alleged fixing of the by-election to Antagarh Assembly seat in 2014. After the scandal broke in 2015, Baghel expelled Amit Jogi from the Congress. In June 2016, Ajit Jogi formed the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J).

He passed away at the age of 74, in the year 2020.

Oldest CM- Raman Singh

Chief minister for three consecutive terms from 2003 to 2018, Raman Singh was 66 when he vacated the chief ministerial post, making him the oldest CM to ever hold the post in the state as well as the CM with the longest term in office. However, In the 2018 Assembly polls, Congress handed down a massive defeat to BJP which had been in power for 15 years under Raman Singh.  

Singh joined BJP as a youth member in 1976-77 and was selected in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly constituency in 1990 and 1993. He became the president of the Bhartiya Janata Party in the newly formed Chhattisgarh and spearheaded the 2003 Assembly election victory of the party. 

Adamant on making a comeback after a loss in 2018, Raman Singh is one of the main candidates of the BJP in phase one of the Chhattisgarh election.  

At present, at the age of 62, Congress’s Bhupesh Baghel is the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, making him the second oldest CM to hold office.