Nine days after the election results were declared, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday picked first time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma, 56, as the new Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Jaipur royal Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa will be the two deputy chief ministers.
The move signals a generational change in the state leadership in sync with the BJP’s earlier decisions of picking up chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The party has kept the caste calculations in mind as it picked a Brahmin as the chief minister of the state, while a Rajput and a Dalit as the deputy chief ministers. Interestingly, all three belong to different constituencies of Jaipur.
The desert state in the past had five Brahmins as chief ministers. The party has kept its core constituency in mind as it chose an organisation man to lead the state. Sharma has been BJP’s general secretary and was a dedicated party worker for years.
He was elected from Sanganer assembly constituency near Jaipur after defeating the Congress candidate. The BJP’s central leadership has sent a message that it rewarded hard work by the committed workers.
Diya Kumari, MLA from Vidhyadhar Nagar, who is named deputy chief minister. Her projection, during the election, was seen as a counter to former CM Vasundhara Raje.
Bairwa is a Dalit leader. His elevation is a message to the community which has a significant presence in the state. Vasudev Devnani, a five time MLA from Ajmer, has been named the Speaker.
