First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma named Chief Minister of Rajasthan

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) picked Bhajan Lal Sharma, the first-time MLA from the Sanganer assembly constituency, as the chief minister of Rajasthan, a key state where it returned to power with a thumping majority in the recently concluded elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has also named Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa as the deputy chief ministers of Rajasthan.

Vasudev Devnani will be the new Rajasthan Assembly Speaker.

"Bhajanlal Sharma has been elected as the leader of the Rajasthan BJP Legislature Party. There will be two Deputy CMs- Diya Singh and Dr. Prem Chand Bairwa. Vasudev Devnani to be the Speaker," said BJP central observer for Rajasthan, Rajnath Singh.

Sharma said his government will meet the expectations of the people of Rajasthan.

"I would like to assure you that all the MLAs of Rajasthan will meet the expectations that the people have with us, with the BJP. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, we will ensure holistic development of Rajasthan in all areas," he added.

Former CM Vasundhara Raje, who was the frontrunner for the post, proposed Sharma's name before the MLAs and the central observers.

Bhajan Lal Sharma is considered close to the RSS and BJP chief JP Nadda. Before becoming MLA, he served as the general secretary for the Bharatiya Janata Party four times.

In the recently concluded Rajasthan assembly elections, he defeated the Congress candidate Pushpendra Bhardwaj with a margin of over 48000 votes.

After Vishnu Deo Sai for Chhattisgarh and Mohan Yadav for Madhya Pradesh, Bhajan Lal Sharma is the third surprising choice for the chief ministerial post by the BJP. The party ignored obvious choices like Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh and entrusted largely unknown faces with running the governments and spearheading its designs for the upcoming 2024 general elections.

All three chief ministerial choices reflect the BJP's attempt to balance respective caste equations while warding off possible anti-incumbency.

Earlier today, three BJP observers, led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, arrived in Jaipur to oversee the legislature party meeting, where the chief minister-elect was picked.

The central team included Vinod Tawde and Sarok Pandey and union minister Pralhad Joshi, the BJP in-charge for Rajasthan. The team was welcomed by CP Joshi and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

The two-time former CM Raje was one of the probables for the chief ministerial post. The names of MP-turned-MLA Balaknath, Raje, Kirori Lal Meena and Diya Kumari had been doing the rounds in political circles.

The BJP won 115 seats out of the 199 that went to polls in Rajasthan.