Raman to take oath on December 12

RAIPUR: A day after Bharatiya Janata Party got people's mandate to retain power for third time, the newly elected BJP legislature party, on Monday, unanimously elected Raman Singh as its leader, who will take oath of office of chief minister on December 12.
His council of ministers would be sworn in on a later date. "Names of ministers will be decided after discussions with the party high command," Singh told reporters immediately after the results.
Singh along with newly elected legislators drove to Raj Bhawan to call on governor Shekhar Dutt to stake claim for forming the government. Earlier during the day, the chief minister had sent in his resignation to the governor, who asked him to continue in office till the new government is in place.
The 49-member BJP legislature party, which met at the state party headquarters this afternoon, unanimously adopted a resolution moved by state party chief Ram Sewak Paikra and seconded by senior leader Brijmohan Agrawal, to elect the 61-year-old Raman Singh to head the government. BJP vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, BJP national organizational secretary Saudan Singh, BJP general secretary JP Nadda and party secretary Dharmendra Pradhan attended the meeting.
Addressing the legislature party meeting, Venkaiah Naidu told the newly elected legislators, "Unlike the Congress, BJP is a party with white dress. Any black spot will be noticed by everyone. We have to ensure transparency, accountability and probity in public life. BJP's victory for the third time is a positive vote for its development initiatives," he said.
Replying to the felicitation by partymen for leading the party to victory, Raman Singh thanked BJP's prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi and other partymen for the party's success in the elections saying that "The fresh people's mandate is an endorsement of the BJP government's development and welfare programmes."
"Our priority is to continue these initiatives and to implement the promises made in the party manifesto for the 2013 elections," he said.
Referring to the upcoming parliament elections, Singh said the party would have to work to win all the 11 Lok Sabha seats from Chhattisgarh.