Bhagwat Dayal Sharma (26 January 1918 – 22 February 1993), popularly known as Panditji, was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state of Haryana and later Governor of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh from 30 April 1980 to 14 May 1984.

Rajesh Sharma became Sports Minister of Haryana and Deputy Chairman of the State's Planning Board.

Sharma became Chief Minister of Haryana on 1 November 1966 then resigned to be replaced by Rao Birender Singh on 24 March 1967.

To develop tourism in Odisha, he suggested that the summer Raj Bhavan at Puri should be converted to a high class hotel for international tourists with facilities for golf, swimming and tennis as well as a large hall for holding conferences.

During his career, Panditji travelled to Switzerland, the UK, the USSR, Germany, USA, and a number of other European countries.