Kamal Nath to take oath as Madhya Pradesh CM on Monday; eyes on Ashok Gehlot vs Sachin Pilot

Veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath will take oath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on December 17.

The ceremony will take place at Lal Parade Ground in Bhopal.

Kamal Nath was named as Madhya Pradesh's next chief minister after hours of hectic parleys held by the party chief Rahul Gandhi with senior party leaders in the national capital amid a debate on the old versus the new guard.

Flanked by Jyotiraditya Scindia, the other senior leader from the state who was in contention for the top post, Nath said that as the new chief minister he would ensure all promises made by the Congress party are fulfilled and that Madhya Pradesh's future was secure.

Asserting that the state unit of the party was united and there were no "camps", Nath thanked Scindia and said he has no problems with him. He also recalled his long association with the Gandhi family, starting with the late Indira Gandhi.

Nath, who has earlier held multiple portfolios in the union cabinet, recalled his association with the former prime minister Indira Gandhi and said it was she who had introduced him to Chhindwara, which has since become his home turf electing him to Lok Sabha nine times.

Thanking Jyotiraditya Scindia, he said he had also worked with his father late Madhavrao Scindia. "He has supported me and that matters a lot," he said.

The Congress has secured the support of a total of 121 MLAs, including SP (1) and BSP (2) legislators as also of four independents, to cross the majority mark of 116 seats in the 230-member assembly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (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.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on who will be the next Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Thursday played down reports of infighting among Rajasthan Congress leaders for the post of chief minister and appealed to party workers to maintain peace, saying the decision of the leadership on it will be acceptable to all.

Gehlot and Rajasthan Congress President Sachin Pilot are vying for the post of chief minister in the state where Congress ousted the BJP from power.

Gehlot's message to Congress workers in the state came soon after Pilot made a similar appeal to them for maintaining peace and discipline while upholding the party's dignity.

(With agency inputs)