No Raje 'Raj' In Rajasthan As BJP Picks First-Time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma As CM

The BJP announced the name of Bhajanlal Sharma as the new chief minister of Rajasthan after a crucial legislature party meeting.

First-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma will be the new chief minister of Rajasthan.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: The suspense over the chief ministerial face finally ended as the BJP announced Bhajanlal Sharma will hold the coveted post in Rajasthan. The announcement comes after a crucial legislature party meeting on Tuesday. 56-year-old Bhajanlal Sharma is a first-time MLA and won the Sanganer seat in the recently held Rajasthan polls. He is also the state general secretary of BJP.

"I would like to thank PM Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. I would also thank former CM Vasundhara Raje for proposing my name," Sharma said after the announcement. 

VIDEO | "I would like to thank PM Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Union Home minister Amit Shah, Defence minister Rajnath Singh. I would also thank former CM Vasundhara Raje for proposing my name (as new BJP legislature party leader)," says Rajasthan CM-designate Bhajanlal Sharma… pic.twitter.com/vcNS1jFRDd

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 12, 2023

Sharma, who hails from Bharatpur, won the Sanganer seat by 48,081 votes despite being labelled as an outsider. He defeated Congress's Pushpendra Bhardwaj. Sharma is known to be close to the RSS as well as the BJP leadership.

Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa will be the deputy chief ministers of Rajasthan, and Vasudev Devnani will be the Speaker.  

Addressing a press conference, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that former CM Vasundhara Raje proposed Bhajanlal Sharma’s name during a meeting of the newly-elected legislators and his name was agreed to unanimously. This follows the path adopted in MP where Shivraj Chouhan proposed Mohan Yadav's name during the BJP legislative party meeting in Bhopal.

VIDEO | "The legislature party meeting of the Rajasthan BJP was held today. Former Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje has proposed the name of Bhajanlal Sharma as the leader of legislative party, which was agreed upon unanimously," says Union Minister @rajnathsingh at a press… pic.twitter.com/yOtF4VRlIs

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 12, 2023

"I am very happy. He will take the state ahead. His name was proposed by Vasundhara ji and I forwarded the name...I am not in line for a minister post," BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena told ANI. 

Among the frontrunners for the top post were former chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Earlier in the day, BJP state general secretary and MLA Bhajanlal Sharma said the key huddle would take place at the BJP headquarters.

BJP central observer Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and two co-observers -- national vice president Saroj Pandey and national general secretary Vinod Tawde were present in the meeting.

Notably, several BJP MLAs had called on former chief minister Raje in recent days amid speculations that the party may choose a non-popular face for the post. However, as per news agency PTI, the party leaders, including Rajendra Rathore, who lost the elections, said there is no tradition of 'show of strength' in the saffron party.

Earlier, sources in the BJP told ABP News that the party president JP Nadda called Vasundhara Raje and advised her to not meet BJP MLAs and to let the top brass decide on the chief ministerial face. Raje urged Nadda to make her the chief minister for a year. However, she refused Nadda's proposal to become Lok Sabha speaker, as per the sources.

On Sunday, the BJP announced Vishnu Deo Sai as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh, and on Monday, the party named Mohan Yadav as his Madhya Pradesh counterpart.