First-time MLA new CM of Rajasthan
Newly-elected Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma (second from right) with his deputies Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa, newly-elected State Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Rajasthan BJP President CP Joshi during BJP Legislature Party meeting, in Jaipur on Tuesday
Jaipur: The BJP on Tuesday picked first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as Rajasthan's new chief minister, ending days of speculation that followed its victory in the assembly polls. The surprise choice was announced after BJP MLAs met here and elected the 56-year-old legislator from Sanganer as the leader of its legislature party. He is at present a Rajasthan BJP general secretary.
Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa will be the deputy chief ministers and Vasudev Devnani the speaker of the state assembly, said senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who led a team of three party central observers to oversee the meeting. Following the meeting at the BJP office here, chief minister-designate Sharma met Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and staked claim to form the next government in the state. The BJP won 115 seats in the November 25 assembly elections, while the Congress got 69 seats. Polling was held on 199 of the 200 seats in the state.
BJP state president CP Joshi presented a letter to the governor, informing that Sharma has been elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the state, according to a Raj Bhawan statement. Kumari is a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family and a Rajput, while Bairwa a Dalit leader and Sharma a Brahmin. Vasudev Devnani is from the Sindhi community. At the meeting, the CM-designate's name was proposed by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who was herself considered to be in the running for the top post. Sharma is the third in the series of little known MLAs who have been elevated by the BJP to the chief minister's post after the recently held assembly elections, ignoring state stalwarts.
The others are Vishnu Deo Sai, who has been picked as the CM-designate for Chhattisgarh, and Mohan Yadav, who has been picked for the post in Madhya Pradesh.
Prior to the legislature party meeting, a group photo was taken and Sharma is seen standing in the last row. Before Sharma, Raje was the preferred choice of the BJP for the post for 20 years. She was chief minister twice -- from 2003 to 2008 and from 2013 to 2018.