Bhanwarlal Sharma to be Rajasthan BJP chief

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, JUNE 17. Mr. Bhanwarlal Sharma, former PHED Minister and MLA from Jaipur's Hawa Mahal constituency, will be the next president of the BJP in Rajasthan.

Mr. Sharma, 76, was selected with consensus after consultations between senior BJP state leaders. The two-day consultations were initiated by the BJP national general secretary Mr. K. N. Govindacharya.

Mr. Sharma will be leading the BJP in the State for the third time. ``The issue is settled to the best interest of the party in the State and to the satisfaction of all the workers,'' Mr. Govindacharya said.

``It could have been sorted out 15 days ago but I was busy in Uttar Pradesh,'' he said.

A breakthrough in getting consensus was evident during the day itself as Mr. Sharma's was the only nomination as the time for filing the nomination papers ended 2 at p.m. His name was proposed by all senior party leaders in the State including the former Chief Minister, Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, former State presidents, Mr. Ramdas Agarwal, Mr. Harishankar Bhabra, Mr. Raghuveer Singh Kaushal and the outgoing president, Mr. Gulab Chand Kataria. One of the main contenders for the post, Mr. Ghanshyam Tiwari too proposed Mr. Sharma's name. Mr. Sharma will take over after the customary meeting of the elected representatives of the party from the districts on Sunday. The election officer from New Delhi, Mr. Pyarelal Khandelwal, will formally announce the unanimous election of Mr. Sharma at the meeting.

Mr.Govindacharya told The Hindu that Mr. Sharma was selected because of his experience, neutrality and the general acceptance he commanded among the party workers and senior colleagues.``I did not come with any name from Delhi,'' Mr. Govindacharya said .

There were eight names under consideration and towards the end major contenders, Mr. Kataria and Mr. Tiwari, too suggested that they were willing to accept each other's name or a third person, he said. ``I made it clear to the workers and leaders that they have to either decide on the president themselves or decide to leave the matter to Delhi,'' Mr. Govindacharya said.

More than a decade ago, Mr. Sharma was made the party president by Mr. Govindacharya after he got the resignation of Mr. Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi. Mr. Sharma has been a member of the State Assembly since 1977 without a break. He was member of all the three Governments headed by Mr. Shekhawat from 1977.

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