Jaipur, Dec 12 (UNI): Bhajan Lal Sharma, a first-time MLA, will be the new Chief Minister of Rajasthan, after being elected the leader of the BJP legislative party at its meeting here on Tuesday.
The meeting also decided that Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa would take over as Deputy Chief Ministers.
Making a formal announcement after the meeting, central observer and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Bhajan Lal Sharma’s election was unanimous. “Bhajan Lal Sharma has been elected as the leader of the BJPLP unanimously,” he said.
Rajnath said after consulting Sharma, it was decided to name two Deputy CMs – Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa. “On behalf of BJP it’s also proposed that Vasudev Devnani will be the Speaker (of the Rajasthan Assembly),” he said.
The decisions were taken in the presence of Rajnath and co-observers party’s national vice-president Saroj Pandey and national general secretary Vinod Tawade.
Rajnath said, “I am confident that under the leadership of Bhajan Lal Sharma Rajasthan will move on the path of development. I once again congratulate Bhajan Lal Sharma.”
Sharma has been elected as a BJP lawmaker from Sanganer seat. He is now serving his fourth stint as the party’s state general secretary.
In the recently concluded Rajasthan assembly polls, Sharma defeated his nearest rival Pushpendra Bhardwaj, of Congress by a margin of 48,081 votes in Sanganer.
Deputy CM Diya Kumari, a former MP from Rajsamand, has won from Vidyadhar Nagar seat over Sita Ram Agarwal of Congress by 71,368 votes. Before contesting assembly polls she was a Lok Sabha MP from Rajsamand.
After being elected to the state assembly she resigned from the membership of Lok Sabha and was one of the contenders for the CM’s post. She is a second-time MLA, having earlier won from Sawai Madhopur seat in 2013.
Speaker-designate Vasudev Devnani, who won the Ajmer North seat, comes from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) background. He has served twice as the minister in the Rajasthan government, once between 2003 to 2008 and then again between 2014 to 2018.
It may be noted that the main opposition BJP swept Rajasthan polls ending Congress’ five-year rule and is set to form the next government after winning 115 seats out of 199 for which counting was held on December 3.
The ruling Congress, which was heavily banking on its guarantees, failed to break the jinx of no party regaining power in the state for the second consecutive term. While the party won 69 seats many of its ministers and MLAs lost.
The polls saw the advent of the Bharat Adivasi Party which won 3 seats, followed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 2, and one each by Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLTP). Eight independent candidates also hit the winning post.
