Bhajan Lal Sharma takes oath as Raj CM, Diya Kumari & Bairwa deputy CMs

Jaipur, Dec 15 (IANS) Bhajan Lal Sharma on Friday took oath as the 14th Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Along with him, two Deputy CMs -- Diya Kumari and Dr. Premchand Bairwa -- also took oath in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other senior leaders.

Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath of office and secrecy to all three.

When Bhajan Lal greeted the Prime Minister after taking oath, Modi patted him on the back. At the same time, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Vasundhara Raje and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat were seen laughing and talking for a long time.

During the ceremony held at Albert Hall, three stages were prepared, on one stage the saints and sages from all over the country were seated, while on the other stage all the political leaders were seated. The third stage was made for the oath, on which Prime Minister Modi, the Governor and the three leaders, who took the oath, were seated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the stage where the saints and greeted them. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also attended the oath ceremony. He reached Albert Hall about half an hour before the swearing-in ceremony and sat with Vasundhara Raje and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Bhajan Lal Sharma took on the day of his birthday. His family also celebrated his birthday at the guest house of Chambal Power House, his temporary base.

First he visited Govind Devji temple, after which he washed the feet of his parents and took their blessings.

Deputy CM Premchand Bairwa visited Moti Dungri Ganesh Temple before taking oath, and Deputy CM Diya Kumari also visited Govind Devji Temple.

Bhajan Lal is the first CM in the state who took oath on his birthday.

Those who attended the ceremony included Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Prahlad Joshi, Ashini Vaishnav, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Bhupendra Yadav, Hardeep Singh Puri, Anurag Thakur, Arjunram Meghwal among others.