Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath was on Monday sworn in as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in the presence of several UPA leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal.
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath was on Monday sworn in as Madhya Pradesh chief minister in the presence of several UPA leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal.
The oath was administered by Governor Anandiben Patel. Nine-time Chhindwara Lok Sabha MP Nath was chosen as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party Thursday and was invited to form the government by the governor on Friday.
The Congress, which won 114 seats, has secured support of 121 MLAs, including SP (1) and BSP (2) legislators and four independents, to cross the majority mark of 116 seats in the 230-member Assembly.
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 taking charge in 2005.
Those present at the swearing in ceremony included Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot, MPs Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar were among those who were present.
Meanwhile, in an apparent reference to Congress leader Kamal Nath, a Shiromani Akali Dal member in the Lok Sabha and several leaders from BJP targetted Nath after Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was sentenced to life term for 'remainder of his natural life' in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and said that someone facing allegations of being part of the riots is going to become the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
In Delhi, the BJP leader sat on an indefinite hunger strike against Kamal Nath being nominated for the CM's post in Madhya Pradesh, alleging that the Congress leader was involved in the anti-Sikh riots.
Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga started his hunger strike at Tilak Nagar in west Delhi where several families affected in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots live.
Protesting the Congress's move in selecting Nath for the chief minister's post, he said, "I am sitting on an indefinite hunger strike against Rahul Gandhi's decision to nominate him as CM. He (Nath) is the same person who was involved in the riots against Sikhs in Delhi." He said his hunger strike will continue till Nath is replaced by someone else as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress won 114 seats in the 230-member House and then secured the support of seven more MLAs, comprising two from the BSP, one from the SP and four Independents.
Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot was sworn in as the chief minister of Rajasthan at a ceremony in Jaipur, while Sachin Pilot took oath as a cabinet minister.
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 "Kamal Nath and others at the oath taking ceremony")
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