Bhajan Lal Sharma, the first-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, on Friday took oath as the new chief minister of Rajasthan. He was administered the oath by governor Kalraj Mishra during a ceremony at the Ramnivas Bag in Jaipur. Other BJP leaders Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa were sworn in as deputy chief ministers.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and other top leaders of the party.
Bhajan Lal Sharma, a first-time MLA, was announced as the chief minister-designate during a BJP legislature party meeting on Tuesday, in the presence of the party’s central observers Rajnath Singh, Saroj Pandey and Vinod Tawde.
About the new CM and deputy CMs of Rajasthan
Born into a family of farmers in Atari village in Bharatpur, the 56-year-old Bhajan Lal Sharma studied in government schools in his home tehsil of Nadbai before completing his BA at the Maharani Shri Jaya government college in 1989.
It was during his college years that he joined the ABVP, the student wing of the BJP, serving in multiple posts including as co-convenor for Bharatpur district.
In 1994, at the age of 27, Sharma became the sarpanch of Atari village — a post he held twice. Since then, he has held multiple positions within the BJP, from mandal adhyaksh, to three-time state organisational secretary.
About the deputy CM Diya Kumar of Rajasthan
Diya Kumari, the granddaughter of the last ruling maharaja of Jaipur, Man Singh II, became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2013. Her political journey saw success when she was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly in the 2013 elections, representing Sawai Madhopur.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Diya Kumari achieved a significant victory by defeating Congress candidate Devkinandan Kaka with a massive margin of 5,51,916 votes. This success marked her entry into the national political arena as a Member of Parliament.
About the deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa of Rajasthan
Prem Chand Bairwa, 54, is an MLA from the Dudu Vidhan Sabha constituency.
Bairwa defeated Congress candidate Babulal Nagar with a substantial margin of 35,743 votes in the 2023 assembly poll.
Bairwa faced defeat in the 2018 elections. In that election, he lost the seat to Babu Lala Nagar by a margin of 14,779 votes.