 "Raje 2.0 means business")
"Without intimation, she would inspect city roads and order removal of posters of leaders of her party (Bharatiya Janata Party)," says Pankaj Chaturvedi, a city reporter with Rajasthan's largest daily, Rajasthan Patrika.
The chief minister has asked the Jaipur municipality to make the city clean and livable. She also brought down her security entourage to a few cars and ensured her convoy stopped at traffic signals. And, converted the chief minister's official bungalow into a state guest house.
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Yet, many were sceptical, believing this to be mere posturing till the 2014 general elections. They expected Raje, 61, born to the royal family of Gwalior and married to Hemant Singh of the Dholpur royal family, would return to her previous style of governance, which involved retiring from work early and being inaccessible in the evenings.
Elections are over and her party has won all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan but Raje continues to burn the midnight oil. Though her government is yet to announce any flagship scheme, she has decided to amend the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Factories Act, 1948, and the Contract Labour Act, 1970. The decision will spell relief to 18 companies, which are in the process of investing Rs 34,380 crore in several projects across Rajasthan since Raje took over.
The government is also planning to introduce tax sops and subsidies to companies and is building a land pool to attract investors. The state's industrial and tourism policies are being reframed.
The state planning board has been replaced by a chief minister's advisory council to advise on sustainable development. Arvind Panagariya was appointed deputy chairman and Mira Mehrishi full-time member. Among other members are Bibek Debroy, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Ajay A Shriram, Malvika Singh, Mohandas Pai, Naina Lal Kidwai and Uday Kotak.
"She is working real hard this time," says Education Minister Kali Charan Saraf. He adds the state government could not take major decisions because of the code of conduct for the elections but Raje used the time to review the functioning of each department.
At a meeting with collectors and superintendents of police, "she warned them of strict action in case of non-performance. She has a grip on the bureaucracy. The message has percolated to the last man," Saraf adds. Raje was the minister in the department of personnel and training in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
Raje could not be reached for comments. Bureaucrats say she is in office late and meetings stretch to late dinners. "However, much you prepare, she will still surprise you with her questions," says a senior bureaucrat who worked with Raje during her first term as chief minister in 2003-2008.
Panchayat Raj Minister Gulab Chand Kataria says linking of rivers and construction of small dams, electricity and education are the priorities of the new government. "(Ashok) Gehlot had good schemes but he did not have control over the bureaucracy," he says. "If people can show the door to Gehlot despite his clean image, they can do the same to us. That is why Raje is not taking this majority for granted," he adds. The BJP won 163 of 200 seats in the December 2013 Assembly elections.
Raje is reaching out to people in all the state's seven divisions covering 33 districts. Before the Lok Sabha elections, her entire cabinet and top bureaucrats had camped in Bharatpur division for 10 days to hear grievances. Her government's next stop is Bikaner on June 19.
Bureaucrats say the chief minister is trying to have a working office in Delhi to liaise with various departments in the Union government and potential investors.