New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) again sprang a surprise on Tuesday, opting for first-term MLA and Brahmin leader Bhajanlal Sharma as the next Rajasthan chief minister.
The Sanganer MLA is the general secretary in the BJP’s Rajasthan unit, and has been associated with the party, including as the state general secretary for a record four times, over the past three decades.
Sharma, 56, will be assisted by two deputy CMs — Diya Kumari, a Rajput, and Premchand Bairwa, a Dalit.
The BJP, which decisively won Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in the November assembly elections, has selected fresh faces to lead all three states. It chose tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai as the CM for Chhattisgarh and OBC leader Mohan Yadav for Madhya Pradesh.
“He (Sharma) is a grassroot worker and was associated with the ABVP, the student wing of the party’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. His name came as a surprise for many. He has always kept a low profile and believes in doing his work. He is known as an organisation man and will be able to take everyone along,” a party functionary said.
The party’s central leadership was ‘impressed’ with Sharma’s management skills as he successfully organised election rallies of senior leaders with ‘impeccable precision’, according to a state functionary.
“He is soft-spoken and has a pleasing personality. In 2018, he was given the responsibility of organising the political rallies and it is during this time, he impressed the central leaders especially Amit Shah ji with his organisational skills,” the state functionary said.
BJP state media coordinator Pramod Vashisht said Sharma has been associated with the organisation for several years and has always put the party first.
“Whether it used to be late night or early morning, he used to be available all the time whenever the party needed him. He is a very religious person, and you won’t find anyone who speaks ill of him,” Vashisht added.
In Rajasthan, where the BJP overthrew the Congress by a margin of 115-69 seats, the Sanganer MLA was the party’s final pick. He defeated Congress’s Pushpendra Bhardwaj by 48,081 votes in Sanganer. Hailing from Bharatpur, Sharma was fielded for the first time by replacing a sitting MLA.
According to a senior party leader, Sharma is considered close to the Sangh and has demonstrated his organisational and leadership skills within the party.
“He is currently the general secretary in Rajasthan BJP and has been associated with the Yuva morcha of the party. He started his political career with ABVP, students’ wing of the RSS, and was given several responsibilities in the organisation,” the leader said.
Party insiders said he had participated in ABVP’s “Kashmir Bachao Andolan’ till Udhampur along with 100 others and went to jail in August-September 1990. The march was in solidarity with Kashmiri Pandits. In 1992, Sharma participated in the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Andolan and went to jail again, they added.
Sharma was given the responsibility of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP’s youth wing, in 1991-92. “He was made a sarpanch at the age of 27 and remained for two terms. He was also a member of the Panchayat Samiti,” said the above-mentioned leader.
Sharma had contested the assembly election from Nadbai in 2003 as a Rajasthan Samajik Nyay Manch candidate and ended up as fourth runner-up with around 6,000 votes.
In Sanganer, the Congress had levelled him as an ‘outsider’. “But despite this, Sharma won Sanganer seat with a huge margin,” another party functionary said.
According to a BJP source, Sharma was initially asking for a ticket from Bharatpur but was later fielded from Sanganer which is considered a ‘strong seat’ of the ruling party. “The party was looking for an MLA belonging to the general category and amongst those he fit the bill,” the source said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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