New Delhi: First-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma took oath as Rajasthan’s chief minister on 15 December. A month later, he has already got cracking on several poll promises made by the BJP in its manifesto — all without convening even a single meeting of the state cabinet.
The three major promises Sharma is focussing on relate to recruitment exam paper leaks, for which he has announced the formation of a special investigation team; law and order, for which an anti-gangster task force has been announced; and delivery of gas cylinders at Rs 450 each from 1 January. The former two moves were announced in the first press conference held by Sharma after he took charge.
Party functionaries told ThePrint that Sharma’s focus is on putting the house in order before taking big decisions and he has announced in a BJP meeting that “his government has fulfilled ten promises in its first month”.
The BJP wrested Rajasthan from the Congress in last year’s assembly elections, winning 115 of 200 seats in the results announced on 3 December. The party then took nine days to announce the chief minister and deputy chief ministers, Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa.
On 15 December, Sharma and the deputy CMs took oath, and the state cabinet was formed on 30 December with 22 ministers taking oath. Since then, the new CM has been carrying out his duties through the Chief Minister’s Office without convening a cabinet meeting.
Speaking to ThePrint, Rajasthan cabinet minister Joraram Kumawat said: “It’s the prerogative of the chief minister to convene a cabinet meeting, but the government is already working day and night and every minister is working to fulfil the aspirations of people.”
According to BJP functionaries, the day Sharma took oath, he had convened a meeting of civil servants and assigned them targets for the first three months, and since then he has taken review meetings of some departments as well.
“The priorities have been announced for the first three months and we have released funds for one week of programmes for temples across the state during the Ayodhya Ram Mandir’s inauguration (on 22 January). Similarly, other ministers have been asked to focus on the three-month targets of the government,” Kumawat said.
Another Rajasthan cabinet minister, Babulal Kharadi, told ThePrint that “since portfolios were distributed in the first week of January, a cabinet meeting will take place before the Rajasthan assembly session begins (on 19 January)”.
“There is no point of bypassing the cabinet and every minister is working overtime,” he added.
A third state minister, not willing to be named, too said that “since the assembly session is started from 19 January, the government is considering convening the cabinet meeting on 18 January to take several decisions. Things will take time to settle down”.
Some of the proposals awaiting cabinet approval relate to investment following the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, to which Sharma had sent industries minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and energy minister Hiralal Nagar. Similarly, review of several decisions of the erstwhile Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government have to be taken up at the cabinet meeting, a state minister told ThePrint.
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Setbacks
Since taking over Rajasthan, Sharma has already suffered the setback of cabinet minister Surenderpal Singh’s defeat in Karanpur constituency polls held on 5 January.
Singh, who took oath as minister even before winning his assembly seat, lost to rival Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Kooner by 11,200 votes. Karanpur did not go to the polls with the other seats on 25 November due to the demise of Congress candidate and then MLA Gurmeet Singh Kooner. Rupinder is the late leader’s son.
Singh’s defeat led to huge embarrassment for Sharma as he had done hectic campaigning along with several other Rajasthan ministers. Singh has since resigned from the cabinet.
The CM also faced unease due to reports of party MLAs’ alleged high-handedness with government officials. One of these was Hawa Mahal MLA Sanjay Sharma, or Balmukundacharya, who took on officials about non-vegetarian restaurants’ alleged encroachment in parts of Jaipur’s old city and questioned whether they had licence to sell meat.
Unlike his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Mohan Yadav, Sharma is being seen as “soft” in his functioning in the first month of governance. While he made news for the mass transfer of civil servants, he has not suspended any like Yadav reportedly did, neither has he replaced officers of the previous Gehlot government with his own in the CMO.
A new Officer on Special Duty and new chief secretary is also yet to be appointed by the CM.
A Rajasthan civil servant told ThePrint: “In the first month, every CM appoints his own OSD and chief secretary and CMO officials, but Sharma is still waiting to get his OSD and other officers after clearance from Delhi (BJP leadership). In fact, the whole bureaucracy is awaiting a new set of officers.”
“In Madhya Pradesh, Mohan Yadav has already appointed his preferred officers in the CMO,” he added.
According to BJP functionaries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the newly-elected Rajasthan legislators in Jaipur earlier this month to guide them, and asked them not to create unnecessary controversy and instead focus on fulfilling the aspirations of people.
Steps taken by new CM
Soon after taking oath, Sharma announced an anti-gangster task force under Additional Director General Dinesh M.N. to check crime and it has reportedly arrested 30 criminals so far.
The state government also ordered the demolishing of the house of Rohit Rathore, an accused in the shooting of Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, in an apparent bid to send a tough message to criminals.
The BJP poll campaign had made paper leaks a big issue, so Sharma last month announced formation of an SIT under additional ADG V.K. Singh to probe the same. The SIT is said to have arrested 15 people related to the paper leaks in one month.
Fulfilling another manifesto promise, the Rajasthan government has announced LPG cylinders at Rs 450 each and two lakh applications have been received for new cylinders, a government official told ThePrint.
Under Sharma, the state has restored general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which was withdrawn by the Gehlot regime. It has also changed the name of Indira Rasoi Yojana back to Annapurna Rasoi Yojana, as it was called under the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in 2016.
The CM has, meanwhile, kept focus on surprise checks and addressing people’s concern through public hearings.
On new year’s day, Sharma was spotted visiting shelter homes for the poor in Jaipur for surprise checks, where he distributed blankets, and also visited Jaipur’s largest government-run SMS Hospital to check the status of health services. He is also holding regular jan sunwais at his temporary residence.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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