The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named first-time lawmaker and long-time backroom strategist Bhajan Lal Sharma as the next chief minister of Rajasthan, completing a generational shift in three key heartland states that delivered impressive victories to the party in recently concluded assembly polls.
The surprise pick was announced at a meeting of the party’s legislators in Jaipur after two-time CM Vasundhara Raje proposed his name to become the leader of the legislative party. The Sanganer lawmaker was elected unanimously.
The 56-year-old will have two deputies, Vidyadhar Nagar lawmaker Diya Kumari and Dudu legislator Premchand Bairwa. Former education minister Vasudev Devnani will be the next assembly speaker, defence minister Rajnath Singh announced.
Sharma, who hails from Bharatpur district, said the new BJP team will work on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. “All our MLAs will work under the leadership of Modi ji to fulfil the aspirations that the people have from the BJP and take Rajasthan on the path of development,” he told reporters.
The appointment of the low-profile leader ends the week-long suspense over the state’s top job after the BJP won a comfortable majority in the assembly polls. It also completes a sweep of changes in the heartland, with new faces replacing Atal Bihari Vajpayee-era regional satraps in Chhattisgarh, where tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai will take charge, and in Madhya Pradesh, where other backward classes (OBC) face Mohan Yadav will become CM.
{{/usCountry}}The appointment of the low-profile leader ends the week-long suspense over the state’s top job after the BJP won a comfortable majority in the assembly polls. It also completes a sweep of changes in the heartland, with new faces replacing Atal Bihari Vajpayee-era regional satraps in Chhattisgarh, where tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai will take charge, and in Madhya Pradesh, where other backward classes (OBC) face Mohan Yadav will become CM.
{{/usCountry}}The elevation of Sharma, who was the party’s state unit general secretary for 20years and played key organisational roles, also marked a major shift in the BJP in Rajasthan, where two-time CM Raje was the face of the party for the past three decades.
Singh congratulated Sharma in a post on X. He wrote, “Congratulations and best wishes on being unanimously chosen as the leader of the BJP legislature party in Rajasthan. I am confident that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leadership of Bhajanlal ji, Rajasthan will move on the path of development.”
The BJP appeared to have struck a careful caste balance in its appointments of deputy CMs to Sharma, a Brahmin. Diya Kumari, a former parliamentarian who fought and won in the assembly polls, is a member of the royal family of Jaipur and a Rajput, while Bairwa is Dalit.
Rajasthan will have a Brahmin chief minister after 33 years, and Sharma will be the first non-Rajput CM from the BJP in the state.
Thanking party workers, Sharma said, “My gratitude to all the BJP workers who worked tirelessly to ensure a thumping win for the party in the elections.”
Sharma, who contested his first election from Nadbai constituency in 2003, won from Sanganer, a suburb of the state capital Jaipur, by a margin of about 40,000 votes. He has his roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
BJP state unit chief CP Joshi presented a letter to the governor, informing that Sharma was elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in the state, according to a Raj Bhawan statement.
He was accompanied by senior leaders Singh, Raje, Diya Kumari and Devnani, among others.
Sharma is likely to be sworn in on December 15, which is also his birthday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda, apart from CMs from BJP-ruled states, are expected to take part in the ceremony.
In a post on X, Raje congratulated Sharma. “Congratulations to Sanganer MLA Bhajanlal Sharma on being appointed the chief minister of Rajasthan. We are confident that under the skilled guidance of prime minister Narendra Modi you will take the state to new heights of development,” she said.
She also congratulated Diya Kumari, Bairwa and Devnani.
As soon as Sharma’s name was announced, his supporters broke out in cheer at the BJP office and at his home in Jaipur. At his home, his father Kishan Swarup Sharmaexpressed surprise over his appointment as CM
“It is god’s grace and people’s love that he has been made the CM,” he said.
Sharma, who holds a postgraduate degree in political science from Rajasthan University, has served as general secretary of the Rajasthan BJP since 2004 and worked under four state presidents — Ashok Parnami, late Madan Lal Saini, Satish Poonia and CP Joshi. He began his politics in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS, and also held posts in the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
Outgoing chief minister, and senior Congress leader, Ashok Gehlot said, “Hearty congratulations and best wishes to Bhajan Lal Sharma on becoming the leader of the BJP legislature party. I hope that while working as the chief minister of Rajasthan, you will maintain the pace of development and play a role in fulfilling the goal of making Rajasthan the number one state of the country.”