The Bharatiya Janata Party today surprised the people of the country by picking a first-time MLA but an experienced party worker as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Sharma, a Brahmin leader, was picked over several veteran leaders including former CM Vasundhara Raje, Mahant Balaknath, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Siddhi Kumari, Diya Kumari (now Deputy CM) and CP Joshi.
While Sharma’s name is a surprise for many, a closer look at BJP’s ticket distribution reveals that the party may have planned it well in advance that if the party would get a majority, hewould be the CM candidate. The BJP did not reveal its CM face during the election and fought the polls on its party symbol and in Modi’s name.
Sharma originally hails from Bharatpur, a seat that hasn’t been favourable for the party. The Rashtriya Lok Dal won this seat in the last two elections. Although the BJP managed to secure it in 2008 and 2013, it came after a long period of 36 years without a win.
On the other hand, Sanganer is a stronghold for the BJP. The party has continuously held this seat since 2003 and has emerged victorious in eight out of the last ten Assembly elections since its formation in 1977. Remarkably, in the last three state polls, the BJP consistently garnered over 50 per cent of the votes in this constituency. This time as well, Sharma defeated the nearest Congress rival Pushpendra Bhardwaj by over 48,000 votes.
Fielding Sharma, who belongs to Bharatpur, from a safe seat like Sanganer by removing the sitting party MLA, shows that the BJP has planned his elevation long ago keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and caste arithmetics. However, the party maintained such secrecy around its plan that leave alone opposition leaders or media, even many top leaders of the BJP were not aware of Sharma’s elevation before today’s official announcement.
