Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath and Bhupesh Baghel are slated to be sworn in as the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, respectively, on Monday. With the swearing in of the leaders, Congress governments would be installed in three states previously ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In Rajasthan, the swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to be held at 10 am, wherein Ashok Gehlot will take oath as the Chief Minister of the state while Sachin Pilot will take over as the Deputy Chief Minister. The event is being organised on the grounds of Albert Hall in Jaipur.
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradeh at Jamuri Maidan in Bhopal at 1.30 pm. In Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel will be sworn in as the Chief Minister at an event at Science College in Raipur.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremonies of the all the three leaders, and the party has reportedly invited leaders from almost all major opposition parties.
According to reports, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav are expected to skip the swearing-in ceremonies.
An official of the West Bengal Chief Minister’s office said that there was no official reason cited for Mamata’s skipping the swearing-in ceremonies. Some reports have, however, said that she will send a representative of the Trinamool Congress to attend the same.
The results of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were declared, along with those of Mizoram and Telangana, on December 11. In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress won 114 seats while in Rajasthan it secured 99 seats. In Chhattisgarh, however, the Congress party managed to secure a comfortable majority over the BJP, winning 68 out of 90 Assembly seats.