Kamal Nath took oath as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal at 1.30 pm on Monday. The ceremony was preceded by an all-religion prayer meeting. Apart from Congress president Rahul Gandhi, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda attended the ceremony. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav were also invited for the event. However, Mamata Banerjee will not attend the swearing-in ceremony. Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi will be representing the party at the event, which the Congress intends to showcase as a picture of Opposition unity. Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati have also informed that they will not attend the ceremony.
Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, DMK leaders MK Stalin also attended the event.
The swearing-in ceremonies in the three states were being seen as another opportunity to present a united opposition front against the ruling BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress had also extended an invitation to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to attend the ceremonies. “The Congress has invited our party and our party chief  Arvind Kejriwal has authorised me to go as the party representative to Rajasthan,†IANS quoted AAP MP Sanjay Singh as saying.
The Congress had won 114 seats in the 230-member House and has the support of seven MLAs from the BSP, one from the SP and four Independents in the recently concluded Assembly election ousting the BJP after a 15-year rule.
Kamal Nath a nine-time parliamentarian from Chhindwara seat and currently president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress.
Here are the Highlights:
14043 pm: Watch |Â Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath at Nath's swearing-in ceremony in Bhopal.
14.39 pm:Â Opposition leaders at the swearing-in ceremony of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath.
14.35 pm:Â Kamal Nath takes oath as 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
14.25 pm:Â Madhya Pradesh: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu at the swearing-in ceremony of CM Kamal Nath, in Bhopal.
14.04 pm:Â National Conference President Farooq Abdullah, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Mallikarjun Kharge, Andhra Pradesh CM & TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders at the swearing-in ceremony of CM designate Kamal Nath, in Bhopal.
13.55 pm: Madhya Pradesh: Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders at the swearing-in ceremony of CM designate Kamal Nath, in Bhopal.
12.57 pm:Â Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders including Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Yadav arrive for oath ceremony of Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister in Bhopal.
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