CM Vishnu Deo Sai Extends Vijayadashami Greetings to Chhattisgarh
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
On the auspicious evening of Vijayadashami 2026, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai extended heartfelt greetings to the people of Chhattisgarh — urging them to let the festival's ancient message do what no policy circular ever could: conquer the Ravana within.
In a message shared from the official Chief Minister's Office of Chhattisgarh account on X, CM Sai wrote: 'आप सभी को विजयादशमी पर्व की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ' — 'Heartfelt wishes of Vijayadashami to all of you.' He called on citizens to extinguish the 'Ravana-like' vices of desire (kaam), anger (krodh), and arrogance (mad) that fester within the human mind, and to embrace mutual love, brotherhood, happiness, and fearless living.
The moral at the heart of Dussehra
Vijayadashami — popularly known as Dussehra — marks the victory of Lord Rama over the demon king Ravana, celebrated each year with Ramlila performances and the ceremonial burning of towering effigies across India. But the festival's deeper pedagogy, as CM Sai's message frames it, is inward: the ten heads of Ravana are classically read as ten forms of human failing, and the bonfire is as much a ritual of self-renewal as a spectacle.
Sai's message in the context of BJP-led Chhattisgarh
Vishnu Deo Sai took charge as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh in December 2023, leading a BJP-run government in a state home to a large tribal population and rich cultural traditions. Festival outreach on official social media has become a consistent feature of his communication style, situating governance within the moral and cultural idiom that resonates across Chhattisgarh's diverse communities.
Indian chief ministers routinely mark major Hindu observances through official channels, but the specificity of Sai's call — naming kaam, krodh, and mad as the modern Ravanas to be defeated — gives the seasonal greeting a personal, pastoral texture that goes slightly beyond formulaic well-wishing.
As effigies burned across Raipur and the rest of the state on the evening of October 20, the CM's message landed with a simple, enduring challenge: the real victory of Vijayadashami is the one you win over yourself.