For years, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who was picked to lead the state by the BJP after a period of political instability, had positioned himself as ‘Mamaji’; a benevolent, paternal figure looking out for citizens, especially the women and the young.
In the just concluded elections, Shivraj Singh Chouhan had, however, been at the receiving end of the Congress’s campaign for the bitterly-fought election in Madhya Pradesh. He lost.
But Chouhan did not let the bitterness during the election campaign stop him from showing up at his swearing-in ceremony as Kamal Nath took over the reins of the state on Monday. On his part, his hosts in the Congress party reciprocated the gesture, seating the three ex-chief ministers on the dais with other dignitaries.
Chouhan, who had come along with two ex-chief ministers including Kailash Joshi and Babulal Gaur, also made it a point to also pose for the cameras, graciously raising hands with his two rivals from the Congress, Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Follow live updates here: Bhupesh Baghel takes oath as Chhattisgarh chief minister
{{/usCountry}}Follow live updates here: Bhupesh Baghel takes oath as Chhattisgarh chief minister
{{/usCountry}}The show of political civility wasn’t restricted to Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan too, Vasundhara Raje attended chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot’s swearing in at Jaipur.
Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were sworn in at the iconic Albert hall in the heart of the city. In 2013, when Vasundhara Raje was sworn in, she had taken her oath at the Raj Bhawan. This is the first time that the chief minister’s oath-taking ceremony took place at Albert Hall. Later, Vasundhara Raje also kept aside her political differences with Congress leaders as she interacted with them.
In Chhattisgarh, the chief minister designate Bhupesh Baghel had also reached out to outgoing chief minister Raman Singh, along with other leaders such as Janta Congress Chhattisgarh chief Ajit Jogi, state BJP chief Dharmlal Kaushik and veteran BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal.
Raman Singh and several other BJP leaders did join Bhagel at the ceremony. He was sworn-in as chief minister along with two ministers, TS Singhdeo and Tamradhwaj Sahu, who had been in the race for the state’s top job but made way for Bhupesh Baghel.
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Congress president Rahul Gandhi and a large number of opposition leaders had spend a larger part of the day travelling first to Rajasthan, and later to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Ashok Gehlot who was the first one to be sworn-in today, later joined them to travel to Madhya Pradesh. Kamal Nath, who signed the plan to waive farm loans up to a maximum of Rs 2 lakh after taking charge, also travelled to Chhattisgarh later.
flit across three states from one state capital to another to attend the swearing in ceremonies of the Congress’s chief ministers, and to showcase opposition unity. But questions were raised over the absence of two prominent opposition leaders — BSP Supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav — who stayed away from the oath ceremonies in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the two states where they have provided Congress support in forming its government.
Last week, the Congress posted its best electoral performance since the 2014 general elections. It snatched Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from the BJP. While the party swept Chhattisgarh, it just made the majority mark in Rajasthan and fell short by a whisker in Madhya Pradesh. The BSP and Samajwadi Party offered to fill the gap to keep out the BJP, which was not far behind.