Rajasthan: BJP Springs Another Surprise As Bhajan Lal Sharma Is Chief Minister
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-12-12 14:56:57
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The BJP has decided to turn a new leaf in states. In line with recent decisions in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, too, got a surprise pick as chief minister, one whose name was never mentioned among the frontrunners or even the hopefuls. Bhajan Lal Sharma, a first-time MLA from Sanganer pipped stalwart and former chief minister Vasundhar Raje, state BJP president C P Joshi, Baba Balaknath, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Sekhawat, Kirori Lal Meena and Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw all of whom were said to be in the race to be the chief minister. Raje had hosted many MLAs since the results had been announced in a show of strength, and along with son Dushyant Singh, had been camping in Delhi after meeting party president J P Nadda. But her efforts came to naught as the party had decided to give new people a chance in all the states. Sharma will have two deputies - Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa. From a tribal in Chhattisgarh to an OBC in MP and now a Brahmin in Rajasthan, the BJP has played its card right.
56-year old Sharma is an organization man who is close to the RSS. He started his political career as a student leader in the ABVP, the student wing of the RSS. He was the state BJP general secretary in charge of the party headquarters in Jaipur. He is also said to be close to Amit Shah and J P Nadda. Sharma is credited with working tirelessly to spruce up the organization in all districts of the state and to counter the advertisement blitz by the Gehlot government regarding its doles. Sharma is considered to the go-to man for the party in the state for organizational matters.
With the BJP following the same template in all the three states (a new and younger face as chief minister with two deputies to cover all caste bases), it is now clear that the party is going to approach 2024 with new faces in place and of course, Modi ki guarantee. There will also be major changes in the state set-ups all over the country as the party is setting its sight on garnering 35 crore votes in 2024 (up from 22 crore in 2019, or more than one and a half times more). The BJP juggernaut is being well-oiled and fine-tuned to take on the I.N.D.I.A bloc or whatever else the opposition comes up with.
