First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma is now officially the Chief Minister of Rajasthan! Divya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa are being sworn in as the state’s two Deputy Chief Minister’s.
A high-profile affair, the swearing-in ceremony was attended by BJP’s top brass, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and BJP president J P Nadda.
Continuing its trend of surprise picks for Chief Ministers, the BJP announced first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma for the Rajasthan top post. Sharma, whose election affidavit says he is an MA in political science, runs a business. But while he won his first Assembly election this time, he has been in politics for 34 years and was associated with the RSS student wing ABVP in various capacities before moving on to the BJP’s youth outfit Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, holding several posts. Hailing originally from Nadbai in Bharatpur district, he is seen as having risen from the grass-roots, becoming a sarpanch at the age of 27, and later rising to party state vice-president and state general secretary. In party circles, he is known as a dedicated party worker.
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 assembly seats in the state.
