First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma named Rajasthan CM; Diya Kumari, Prem Chand Bairwa picked as deputies

Jaipur, Dec 13: In another surprise move, the BJP on Tuesday named first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as the next Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

Sharma, who was elected from Sanganer in Jaipur district in the November 25 Assembly elections, has been an office-bearer in the BJP state unit.

There will be also be two Deputy Chief Ministers in the state - former MP Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa, while Vasudev Devnani has been appointed as the Assembly Speaker.

Diya Kumari, who was the MP from Rajsamand, contested the Assembly elections from Vidhyadhar Nagar, while Bairwa was elected as MLA from Dudu.

The names were finalised at the legislative party meeting held nine days after the election results were declared on December 3.

Being a resident of Bharatpur, some people had branded him as an 'outsider' in Sanganer before the elections. However, he won by a huge margin, defeating Pushpendra Bhardwaj of the Congress by 48,081 votes.

Sharma, who is considered close to both the party organisation and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has been the state general secretary for the past 20 years under four sate BJP Presidnets -- Ashok Parnami, Madan Lal Saini, Satish Poonia and C.P. Joshi.

On Monday, the BJP had named a surprise pick as the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh - Mohan Yadav (58), a leader from the Yadav OBC community.