Satnami leader, Chhattisgarh BJP minister’s brother joins Congress

Satnami leader Dhaldas Saheb, brother of Chhattisgarh BJP minister Guru Khushwant Saheb, has joined the Opposition Congress party with aspirations to contest the 2028 assembly elections. Both Dhaldas and Khushwant hail from the Satnami community, which constitutes over 10% of Chhattisgarh's population. Dhaldas joined the Congress on Friday in the presence of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who welcomed him on social media with the statement, "A start has been made.

Together, we will remove the BJP." Following his move to the Congress, Dhaldas expressed his intention to contest the 2028 Assembly elections, provided his brother does not do the same. He clarified to The Indian Express that he would contest from Mungeli and would only consider Arang if Khushwant was not contesting from that constituency.

Khushwant, who previously represented Arang, represented his brother's interest by securing a ticket from Arang in the 2023 Assembly polls, winning the election, and subsequently becoming a minister in the Chhattisgarh cabinet. The Chhattisgarh cabinet, totaling 14 members, includes two ministers from the Scheduled Caste community, comprising Khushwant and Dayaldas Baghel.

Another cousin of Dhaldas, former MLA Guru Rudra Kumar, was also a Congress minister in 2018 but lost the 2023 elections. Dhaldas mentioned that he has three brothers and a sister; his sister had previously served as the chairperson of the Tilda-Nevra municipality, while his brother Guru Sourabh Saheb chairs the Raipur Zilla Panchayat.