'Soft Hindutva', anti-BJP show of strength mark Kamal Nath's swearing-in

kamal-nath-swearing-in Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath with opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his swearing-in ceremony in Bhopal on Monday| Amey Mansabdar

In a massive show of opposition unity and amidst chants of vedic hymns, MPCC chief Kamal Nath on Monday took oath as the 18th politician and 28th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and many other UPA leaders.

The oath was administered by Governor Anandiben Patel who also holds the additional charge of Chhattisgarh. The ceremony was conducted by Chief Secretary B.P. Singh.

Kamal Nath took the oath alone, while rest of his cabinet will be sworn in later. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by scores of Hindu sadhus. Shankaracharya Swarooopanand's representative and leaders of various religions were present on the dais to bless the new chief minister. Hoardings of Lord Hanuman were erected all over the area in reflection of Kamal Nath's fondness of the deity.

In a specially made enclosure in an area of six acres, thousands of Congress workers witnessed the party's return to power after a gap of 15 years.

kamal_nath

Six days after the assembly results, the Congress had planned to make the swearing-in ceremony a mega-event to showcase the unity of opposition against the Modi government.

Former PM Manmohan Singh, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, Praful Patel, TDP leader and Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former PM H.D. Devegowda, Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, DMK leader Stalin, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, JMM Leader and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren were among the leaders who attended the ceremony.

Also in attendence were Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, deputy CM Sachin Pilot, Puducherry CM Narayanasamy, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai, Anand Sharma and Raj Babbar.

Three former BJP chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, namely, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Babulal Gaur and Kailash Chandra Joshi, former MP CM and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah were also present for the swearing-in ceremony.