First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma to be next Raj CM

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named first-time lawmaker and longtime backroom strategist Bhajan Lal Sharma as the next chief minister of Rajasthan, completing a generational shift in three key heartland states that delivered impressive victories to the party in recently concluded assembly polls.

- Urvashi Dev Rawal

The surprise pick was announced at a meeting of the party's legislators in Jaipur after two-time CM Vasundhara Raje proposed his name to become the leader of the legislative party. The Sanganer lawmaker was elected unanimously.

The 56-year-old will have two deputies, Vidyadhar Nagar lawmaker Diya Kumari and Dudu legislator Premchand Bairwa. Former education minister Vasudev Devnani will be the next assembly speaker, defence minister Rajnath Singh announced.

Sharma, who hails from Bharatpur district, said the new BJP team will work on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision. "AIl our MLAs will work under the leadership of Modi ji to fulfil the aspirations that the people have from the BJP and take Rajasthan on the path of development," he told reporters.

The appointment of the low-profile leader ends the weeklong suspense over the state's top job after the BJP won a comfortable majority in the assembly polls. It also completes a sweep of changes in the heartland, with new faces replacing Atal Bihari Vajpayee-era regional satraps in Chhattisgarh, where tribal leader Vishnu Deo Sai will take charge, and in Madhya Pradesh, where other backward classes (OBC) face Mohan Yadav will become CM.