First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma was sworn in as the chief minister of Rajasthan at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership on Friday, 12 days after the party ousted the Congress in the assembly polls.
Sharma, a BJP state general secretary, took charge of the state on the day he turned 57.
Along with him, Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa were sworn in as the deputy chief ministers by Governor Kalraj Mishra. All three took the oath in Hindi.
Ashok Gehlot attended the ceremony held in front of the iconic Albert Hall in Jaipur -- the lone Congress leader in a show of strength by the BJP.
A large gathering of BJP MLAs and workers from across the state witnessed the event, which followed the swearing-in ceremonies in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the two other states where the BJP won the November assembly polls.
Later, Sharma assumed charge at his office in the secretariat, amid the chanting of Vedic hymns.
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Arjun Meghwal, Rajasthan BJP president C P Joshi and others state leaders came to the Chief Minister Office for this.
As Sharma sat on the CM's chair, Raje placed a hand on his head to bless him.
Before Sharma was picked by the party leadership for the top post, surprising many, she was considered to be a frontrunner in the race.
However, the main show of support for the low-profile leader was at the open-air swearing-in ceremony earlier.
PM Modi led the list of invitees.
Others included party president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Also at the event were chief ministers from BJP-run states -- Madhya Pradesh's Mohan Yadav, Uttarakhand's Pushkar Singh Dhami, Gujarat's Bhupendrabhai Patel, Maharashtra's Eknath Shinde and Goa's Pramod Sawant. Uttar Pradesh was represented by Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Seers and mahants from different places were at the ceremony as well.
As Sharma, Diya Kumari and Bairwa took the oath, BJP supporters raised slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Modi-Modi'.
Outgoing CM Gehlot sat next to Union minister Shekhawat, their rivalry seemingly forgotten as they chatted with each other, and with Raje.
Over the past several months Gehlot has repeatedly targeted Shekhawat over Sanjivani Credit Co-operative Society 'scam', and the Union minister, in turn, filed a defamation case against him.
Ahead of the ceremony, Sharma offered prayers at the Govind Devji temple in the state capital and fed cows at the Pinjrapol Gaushala on Tonk road, where he was accompanied by family members and supporters.
The BJP leader then went to his home in the city and sought the blessings of his parents. He also visited a Shiva temple on the premises before leaving for the oath-taking ceremony.
The BJP named Sharma as its surprise pick for the CM post on December 12. At the central observers' suggestion, the new MLAs formally elected him as the legislature party's leader, or the CM-designate.
Sharma, who is from Bharatpur district, won the Sanganer constituency of Jaipur with a margin of 48,081 votes.
He was regarded as dedicated RSS and BJP worker, who went about his job without making any fuss. He moved up the ladder in the state BJP, holding responsibilities in the organisation but never in the government.
About three decades back, he held his first public office as the sarpanch of a village in Bharatpur district.
The BJP won 115 seats in the November 25 assembly elections in Rajasthan, while the Congress got 69. Polling was held on 199 of the 200 seats in the House.
