Kamal Nath to take oath as Madhya Pradesh CM on December 17

New Delhi: Congress leader Kamal Nath was selected by the party leadership on Thursday to be the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, after Nath and his party colleague Jyotiradtiya Scindia helped Congress defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the saffron party’s bastion. Nath will take oath as the Madhya Pradesh CM on December 17 at Lal Parade ground in Bhopal, reported.

Reacting to the announcement of his selection as the Chief Minister, Nath said in an emotional statement that getting the post of MP CM was a "milestone". He also thanked Jyotiraditya Scindia for his support, the 72-year-old leader remembered Scindia's father, Madhavrao Scindia, who died in a plane crash in 2001. 

Kamal Nath said, “The chief ministerial post is a milestone for me. On December 13, Indira Gandhi had visited Chhindwara and handed me over to the public. I would like to thank Jyotiraditya Scindia for supporting me. I have worked with his father. That is why I am happy that he supported my



selection." Significantly, there will be no post of a deputy chief minister in the newly-elected Congress government in the state, contrary to earlier reports that suggested that Scindia may be offered the post of deputy CM.

The result of the Madhya Pradesh election was declared on December 11, and after a marathon process of counting of votes, the Congress emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats in the 230-member MP Assembly. It was two short of majority mark but Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party decided to support it, thus ensuring a Congress-led government in the state. 

On the other hand, the BJP, which had ruled the state for 15 years, managed to win 109 seats, following which Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigned as the chief minister. Post Congress' win, both Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia held separate meetings with Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, during which Rahul Gandhi is believed to have reportedly persuaded Scindia to toe the party line.