Bhajan Lal Sharma, the Chief Ministerial-elect of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan, was sworn in at the Albert Museum Hall in Jaipur, on Friday.
The ceremony witnessed an unusual sight as the three contenders for the CM chair— BJP’s Vasundhara Raje and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Congress’ Ashok Gehlot — found themselves sitting hand-in-glove. Once contenders for the position, the three leaders have now assumed the role of mere spectators at the CM’s oath ceremony.
FLASH : Political dynamics shift as Gehlot, Shekhawat, and Vasundhara, once frontrunners, now relegated to mere spectators at Bhajanlal Sharma’s CM oath ceremony in Rajasthan. #RajasthanNewCM #मुख्यमंत्रीश्री pic.twitter.com/olBJM2hASv
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) December 15, 2023
The BJP had sprung a massive surprise which nobody was prepared for, as it appointed Sharma as the state’s CM on Tuesday. The first-time MLA has now sidelined well-known figures like Raje and Shekhawat.
On the other hand, despite their past differences, outgoing CM Gehlot and his “rival” Shekhawat were engrossed in conversation, setting a unique tone for the ceremony.
On Wednesday, a Sessions Court had passed a verdict in favour of the Union Minister when he had filed a defamation case against Gehlot when he accused Shekhawat of being part of the Sanjivani Credit Co-operative Society ‘scam’.
Raje, a prominent two-time CM and stalwart saffron party leader in the desert state, was seen shifted to the background when the announcement was made on Tuesday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed her the responsibility of declaring the name of the new CM, but her apparent lack of enthusiasm hinted at her discontent with the chosen candidate.
FLASH : Political dynamics shift as Gehlot, Shekhawat, and Vasundhara, once frontrunners, now relegated to mere spectators at Bhajanlal Sharma’s CM oath ceremony in Rajasthan. #RajasthanNewCM #मुख्यमंत्रीश्री pic.twitter.com/olBJM2hASv
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) December 15, 2023
The event also saw the presence of political figures such as the newly appointed Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Gujarat CM Bhupendrabhai Patel, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, and Uttar Pradesh deputy CM Keshav Prasad.
In addition to the CM, Deputy CMs Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa also took the oath of office.
The BJP secured 115 seats in the Rajasthan assembly elections, while the Congress secured 69 seats out of the 199 contested.