'Bitter rivals' Gehlot, Shekhawat sit next to each other at Rajasthan CM's swearing-in ceremony

Gehlot has been repeatedly targeting Union minister Shekhawat, accusing him of being involved in the Sanjivani Credit Co-operative Society 'scam'.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat sit next to former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot. (Photo | PTI)

JAIPUR: Outgoing chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot on Friday reached the swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and sat next to "rival" Gajendra Singh Shekhwat.

Gehlot has been repeatedly targeting Union minister Shekhawat, accusing him of being involved in the Sanjivani Credit Co-operative Society 'scam'. Shekhawat, in turn, has filed a defamation case against Gehlot in Delhi. They were seen talking together as they waited for the oath-taking ceremony to begin.

Gehlot also warmly met former leader of the opposition Rajendra Rathore and former deputy leader of the opposition Satish Poonia.

Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who was among the frontrunners for the CM post, was also on the dias sitting next to Shekhawat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda, several union ministers, and chief ministers of different states are attending the ceremony being held in front of the iconic Albert Hall.

BJP president in Rajasthan CP Joshi went to the Jaipur airport and welcomed PM Modi and other senior leaders of the BJP who landed in the city for the event.

Speaking to reporters there, he said, "One of the workers from among us is going to take the oath as the chief minister. There is huge enthusiasm among all party workers."

Joshi said thousands of people from across the state will witness the event.

Newly appointed Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mohan Yadav, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, Gujarat CM Bhupendrabhai Patel, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad are also in Jaipur for the event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, CM-designate Bhajan Lal Sharma and his deputies during swearing-in ceremony on Friday.

Along with Bhajan Lal Sharma, Diya Kumari, and Prem Chand Bairwa, named as the deputy chief ministers, will also take the oath of office.

The BJP won 115 seats in the November 25 Rajasthan assembly elections while the Congress got 69 seats. Polling was held on 199 of the 200 assembly seats in the state.

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