First-time member of the state Legislative Assembly, and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Bhajanlal Sharma was declared as the new chief minister of Rajasthan. The saffron party on Tuesday picked the first-time MLA from Sanganer as the new chief minister, ending days of speculation that followed its victory in the assembly polls.
The surprise choice was announced after the newly elected BJP MLAs met in Jaipur and elected MLA Bhajanlal Sharma as the legislature party leader. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and party observers Vinod Tawde and Saroj Pandey attended the meeting, where the BJP’s Rajasthan election in-charge Pralhad Joshi was also present.
At the meeting, the CM-designate’s name was proposed by former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who was herself considered to be in the running for the top post.
Bhajanlal Sharma also served as the State General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party four times. The Rajasthan CM-designate is also among the longest-serving general secretaries of the BJP in the state
Following the 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, Bhajanlal Sharma was elected as an MLA from the Sanganer Assembly constituency, which is said to be a stronghold of the BJP.
Bhajanlal Sharma secured his position by defeating Pushpendra Bhardwaj, the candidate from the Indian National Congress (INC), with a margin of 48,081 votes.
Bhajanlal Sharma‘s residence is at Jawahar Circle in Jaipur. The Rajasthan CM-designate is originally from Bharatpur.
In his earlier days in politics, Bhajanlal Sharma has been with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
An upper-caste leader, Bhajanlal Sharma being BJP’s chief ministerial choice is a digression from the saffron party’s other CM candidates in the Hindi heartland- Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
According to data available with the Election Commission of India, Bhajanlal Sharma, 56, is a postgraduate. He declared assets worth ₹1.5 crore, which includes ₹ 43.6 lakh in moveable assets and ₹ 1 crore in immovable assets.
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Published: 12 Dec 2023, 05:12 PM IST