First-time BJP MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma to be new Rajasthan CM

The BJP on Tuesday picked first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as Rajasthan's new chief minister, ending days of speculation that followed its victory in the assembly polls.

The surprise choice was announced after BJP MLAs met and elected the 56-year-old MLA from Sanganer as the leader of its legislature party.

Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa will be the deputy chief ministers and Vasudev Devnani the speaker of the state assembly, said senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, who led a team of three party central observers to oversee the meeting.

At the meeting, the CM-designate's name was proposed by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who was herself considered to be in the running for the top post.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed Sharma won the Sanganer constituency with a margin of 48,081 votes. He belongs to Bharatpur district.

Sharma, who is at present the BJP's state general secretary, holds a master's degree in political science.

Prior to the legislature party meeting, a group photo was taken and Sharma is seen standing in the last row.

Diya Kumari, a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family, is a two-time MLA and one-time MP.

The 51-year-old BJP leader, who became an MLA for the first time in 2013 from the Sawai Madhopur assembly seat, was said to be among the frontrunners for the post of chief minister.

In 2019, she was elected as an MP from Rajsamand.

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She is the daughter of erstwhile Jaipur royal Sawai Bhawani Singh, who earned distinction in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war as a Lt Colonel and Commanding Officer of the Para Commandos of the 10th Parachute Regiment.

Kumari is also associated with several non-government organisations, including the Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan, and Rays, an NGO working for HIV+ children, of which she is the patron.

Bairwa, who was declared deputy chief minister along with Kumari, is a Dalit face in the BJP. The 54-year-old won the Dudu constituency in the November 25 Rajasthan assembly elections.

Bairwa, who defeated Congress' Babu Lal Nagar with a margin of 35,743 votes, is Ph.D from the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur.

The BJP won 115 seats in the assembly elections, while the Congress got 69 seats. Elections were held on 199 of the 200 seats in the state.

Polling in Karanpur was deferred due to the death of Congress candidate and sitting MLA Gurmeet Singh Koonar. It will now be held on January 5.