New Delhi: First-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma was sworn in as Rajasthan’s chief minister in Jaipur Friday in the presence of a host of senior party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath to Sharma and his two deputies, Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa.
A low-profile party worker, Sharma, 56, won from Jaipur’s Sanganer constituency in the November elections, which saw the BJP return to power after decisively beating the incumbent Congress. The BJP got 115 seats to the Congress’ 69 in the 199 seats that went to the polls.
Sharma, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) man, was chosen for the top post at a legislative party meeting this Tuesday, overseen by three central observers of the party.
He rose through the BJP ranks in the last three decades — from village sarpanch to chief minister — and held several posts along the way, including that of the state BJP general secretary.
Towards the beginning of his career, he was also actively involved in the agitation for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, for which he spent some time in jail.
He has a Masters’ degree in political science and runs an agriculture supplies business.
Former Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari, 51, belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Jaipur, and is a popular Rajput face of the party. She won from Jaipur’s Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency with a margin of 71,368 votes. The 51-year-old was elected to the state legislative Assembly for the first time in 2013 from Sawai Madhopur.
She is also associated with several non-government organisations, including the Eye Bank Society of Rajasthan, and is the patron of Rays, an NGO working for HIV+ children.
Her fellow deputy chief minister, Bairwa, is a two-time MLA and prominent Dalit face of the party. The 54-year-old won from the Dudu constituency.
He has a doctorate degree from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
Meanwhile, five-time MLA Vasudev Devnani has been chosen as the Speaker of the state Assembly.
Also read: BJP’s social engineering in Rajasthan — why the party chose Bhajanlal Sharma as CM