Bhajan Lal Sharma: Humble party worker’s decades of silent contribution earn Raj CM’s chair
JAIPUR: Silently working for decades for the party, the state’s new 56-year-old chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharmahas impressed the party’s top leaders with his dedication and commitment. While campaigning in Sanganer from where he was elected as MLA, he presented himself as a “humble” party worker and promised “double engine ki sarkar” (BJP govt in both Centre and state).
Sharma has been active in politics for the past 34 years. From being jailed in 1992 for the Shri Ramjanmabhoomi agitation to his arrest in Udhampur during the Kashmir march in 1990 with other ABVP workers for Kashmiri Pandits’ cause, Sharma did not hesitate in making sacrifices for the party.
Sharma lost his first assembly election from Nadbai seat in his home district Bharatpur in 2003. He was then a candidate of the Samajik Nyay Manch, a politcal party formed by then BJP rebel and former minister Devi Singh Bhati, Suresh Mishra (who recently switched over to BJP from Congress) and Karni Sena founder Lokendra Singh Kalvi.
Rajasthan gets new CM: Crorepati Bhajan Lal Sharma takes the helm
This was his second assembly election. Initially he faced opposition and was called an “outsider” in Jaipur but the RSS cadre ensured his victory from Sanganer where he defeated Congress candidate Pushpendra Bhardwaj. Since the constuency has a sizable number of Brahmin votes, he enjoyed their support.
“I heartily congratulate the newly elected chief minister. I am the person who had demanded a Brahmin CM in the Brahmin mahapanchayat. Who had any idea at that time that the chief minister would be elected from Sanganer only,” said Bhardwaj.
While campaigning in Sanganer, Sharma had praised PM Narendra Modi to attract voters. He tried to strike a chord with women voters by highlighting the Centre’s recent announcement of 33% reservation for them.
“I am a humble party worker, and now I stand among you, seeking your blessings. I promise not to let you down. You need not come to me, but I will come to you,” Sharma said at a gathering of party workers during his election campaign.
Watch: The moment when Rajnath Singh names Bhajan Lal Sharma as the CM of Rajasthan
Sharma started his political career when he progressed to secondary education. He took admission in Nadbai in Bharatpur for studies from his Atari village in Nadbai and joined ABVP. Impressed with his services, he was given the helm of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morch of the state in 1991-92. At the age of 27, he was elected sarpanch and continued it for the second term.
He has an MA in Political Science and runs a business of agriculture and mineral supplies. He is general secretary of the BJP’s state unit. He has held key posts in the party organization at Bharatpur and Jaipur in the past two decades. In Bharatpur, he held posts of district secretary, general secretary and district president. At state headquarters, he held posts of state vice-president and state general secretary (currently) for a decade.
