Rajasthan Chief Minister: After several rounds of hectic parleys, Bhajanlal Sharma, the MLA from Sanganer, was on Tuesday named as the next chief minister of Rajasthan.
The decision was taken at BJP’s legislature party meeting organised by a three-member central observers team headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday. All the 115 newly elected MLAs were also a part of the meeting.
The names trending for the chief minister’s post included former CM Vasundhara Raje and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
BJP state media coordinator Pramod Vashishth told reporters that the party observers had a one-on-one talk with the legislators.
Raje, the frontrunner for the post, has built a lot of pressure on the party high command by meeting over 30-40 MLAs at her residence here ever since the BJP won the polls on December 3. The two-time CM and her Lok Sabha MP son Dushyant Singh had also landed in the soup for allegedly herding a group of MLAs at a resort last week.
The name of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was not seen in any of the poll rallies and road shows of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, in Rajasthan, has also gained momentum.
Rumors of Baba Balaknath, who represents Alwar, are also rife. Union ministers Arjunram Meghwal; Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur; Rajya Sabha MP and now MLA Sawaimadhopur K L Meena; MLA Diya Kumari (Jaipur royal family member), Om Birla (Lok Sabha Speaker), Om Prakash Mathur (RSS hardliner), and BJP state president CP Joshi, who led the party to the victory in the state and always accompanied Modi during his all poll rallies and shows, are trending in the political circles.
It is speculated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the swearing in ceremony.