BHOPAL: Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Monday took oath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in the presence of several UPA leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal. He was administered the oath of office by Governor Anandiben Patel. 


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The nine-time Chhindwara Lok Sabha MP, Kamal Nath was chosen as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party on Thursday after several rounds of discussion with party chief Rahul Gandhi. Congress campaign incharge Jyotiraditya Scindia was the other contender for the top post. 


Kamal Nath, in the past, has held several portfolios in the Union cabinet. He was appointed the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president on April 26 and was at the forefront in steering the party to a win in the 2018 Assembly polls where Congress won 114 seats in the 230-member House. Just short of a majority, the Congress secured the support of seven more MLAs, comprising two from the BSP, one from the SP and four Independents. 


Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Deputy CM Sachin Pilot who took oath earlier in the day were also present for the ceremony. Others present for the event included former prime minister Manmohan Singh, AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, MPs Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. NCP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, DMK's MK Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Kamal Nath's predecessor and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present. 


The BJP, which ruled the state for 15 years, got 109 seats in the elections. The saffron party's Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the state's longest-serving chief minister since he took charge in 2005.