BJP picks MLA Bhajanlal Sharma for Rajasthan CM. Diya Kumari & Prem Chand Bairwa to be his deputies

The 1st-time MLA won from Sanganer by 48,081 votes, defeating Congress’s Pushpendra Bhardwaj. BJP, which won MP, Chhattisgarh & Rajasthan, has selected fresh CM faces in all 3 states.

Senior BJP leaders Vasundhara Raje and Rajnath Singh congratulate Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma for being appointed as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, in Jaipur on Tuesday | ANI

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party Tuesday named first-time legislator Bhajanlal Sharma as the new Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

The announcement was made following the BJP legislature party meeting in Jaipur Tuesday afternoon in presence of the central observers appointed by the party — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, party national general Secretary Vinod Tawde and MP Saroj Pandey. BJP in-charge of Rajasthan Pralhad Joshi was also present at the meeting.

The party picked legislators Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa as Deputy Chief Ministers. Former state minister Vasudev Devnani would be the Assembly Speaker, Rajnath Singh said after the meeting.

The BJP, which decisively won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in the November elections, has selected fresh faces to lead all three states.

It chose tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai as CM for Chhattisgarh and OBC leader Mohan Yadav for Madhya Pradesh.

In Rajasthan, where the party overthrew the ruling Congress 115-69, the MLA from Sanganer was the party’s final pick. Sharma, 56, has served as the party’s state general secretary for a record four times. He won from the seat with 1,45,162 votes, defeating the Congress’s Pushpendra Bhardwaj by 48,081 votes.

After the announcement, Rajnath Singh told the media that Sharma was the unanimous choice after his name was proposed for the chair by former state chief minister Vasundhara Raje.