Exactly a month ago, Bhajan Lal Sharma took oath as Rajasthan Chief Minister. It came three days after the BJP pulled a surprise by announcing the first time MLA’s name for the top post.

In a month, Sharma has been busy carrying out his duties without drawing much attention to himself or his statement. If anything, Sharma has yet to reveal his character in a way that other top politicians of the state such as Ashok Gehlot, Vasundhara Raje, Sachin Pilot, and Rajendra Rathore have over the years and the decades.

So far, Sharma has addressed only one press conference — on the day he took charge as the CM but where he did not field any questions. And since the first day, he has not made any extraordinary or unusual statements at public programmes and has kept his head low. In the press conference, Sharma underlined his government’s priorities: women’s safety, eradicating corruption, ensuring law and order, and stopping paper leaks. The first and the last were the big-ticket poll issues for the BJP last year.

In the following days, Sharma made courtesy visits to the party’s top leaders and held departmental review meetings. Perhaps the most noticeable among them was the one to his predecessor Ashok Gehlot at the latter’s residence. The last time this had reportedly happened was in 1998 when after becoming the CM Gehot visited the residence of outgoing CM Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. But this tradition apparently stopped with Vasundhara Raje’s win in 2003.

Interestingly, Gehlot continues to occupy the official CM residence and Sharma, who is currently living in temporary accommodation, will move into it after the “malmas” period is over.

While the CM may keep to himself around journalists, he has been actively engaging with the public during his continuous tours and especially the regular jan sunwais (public hearings) at his residence. On the foggy January 2 morning, Sharma also visited the City Park in Jaipur. Then there’s the surprise visit to SMS Hospital, the largest government-run hospital in the state. Hitting the right note, CM also visited “ran basera (shelters for the poor)” around midnight on New Year’s Day, reviewed arrangements, and distributed blankets.

The CM’s chief campaign so far has been for the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra. He was also present at the Lakhpati Didi Sammelan in Jaisalmer along with President Droupadi Murmu.

With the change in the ruling party, some expected changes have also taken place. The Sharma government restored the general consent to the CBI, which was withdrawn by the Gehlot administration. Additionally, the name of Indira Rasoi Yojana was changed back to Annapurna Rasoi Yojana—– as first christened by the Raje government in 2016. The BJP government has also stopped the Rajiv Gandhi Yuva Mitra internship and Mahatma Gandhi Seva Prerak programmes, leading the Congress to accuse the BJP of vendetta politics.

Fulfilling its manifesto promises, the BJP government announced domestic LPG cylinders from 2024 for Rs 450. In his first press conference, the CM also announced the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to check paper leaks as well as an Anti-Gangster Task Force to check organised crime, both of which were the party’s poll promises.

The Congress has attacked the BJP saying that the CM and the government lack agency and are instead run by the party’s central leadership via the “parchi system”; during the party’s Legislature Party meeting to elect the next CM, central observer and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over a slip of paper with Sharma’s name to Raje, who then proposed Sharma’s name. Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said even the MLAs were not being heard and the decisions were being passed on by the B’sJP central leadership via the “parchi system”.

Perhaps the biggest setback to the Sharma government was the loss of Karanpur Assembly seat. The party had made its candidate Surenderpal Singh a minister with four portfolios even before he was elected as an MLA. After the embarrassment, Singh submitted his resignation to Governor Kalraj Mishra. However, in an election being held after the demise of the sitting MLA, there is usually a sympathy wave for the family. Here too, the BJP had cited the sympathy wave for its loss, with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat saying that “normally in such an election, which is held following someone’s demise, there is devotion and a sympathy wave for the deceased leader”. He added, “It is because of this sympathy wave indeed that there is such a result.” The election was postponed following the demise of sitting MLA Gurmeet Singh Kooner of the Congress during the elections. The party then fielded his son Rupinder who won.

Sharma’s tenure has also been marked by Raje — who was in the running for the top post — maintaining her distance and remaining absent on at least three important occasions. At the party’s January 12 meeting for Lok Sabha elections, all the top leaders were present except the former CM. When PM Modi reached Jaipur ahead of the DGP-IG conference, he visited the party’s newly elected legislators at the state party office in Jaipur on January 5. However, Raje was among those who were not present. Before that, on the occasion of the oath-taking ceremony of ministers too, Raje was absent.