Rahul Gandhi to attend Kamal swearing-in, Mayawati & Akhilesh invited

BHOPAL

:

AICC president Rahul Gandhi

, BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav are among those invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of chief minister designate Kamal Nath at Jamboree Maidan on Monday.


Asked how many cabinet ministers will also be sworn in, Kamal Nath said they haven’t decided it yet.

Congress office-bearers met at the state party office on Friday evening to chalk out the modalities for the oath-taking ceremony, scheduled for 1:30pm. Initially, Lal Parade Grounds was chosen as the venue, but it was shifted to Jamboree Maidan when the planners learnt of the sheer number of Congress workers coming from across the state to attend the ceremony.

“After 15 years, a Congress chief minister is being sworn in and everyone in the party wants to attend,” said state Congress media committee chairperson Shobha Oza. “So, the venue has been changed to the bigger Jamboree Maidan.” Invitations have been sent to former AICC president Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and chief ministers of all Congressruled or coalition government states. “Requests to attend the function are being sent to BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. They are partners in the government,” said state PCC spokesman Ravi Saxena.
Shivraj to get invite for oath-taking

Congress, which ended up two short of the magic figure, is forming the government with support of two BSP MLAs, four independents and an SP legislator.

Former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the BJP’s state leadership and Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Thavar Chand Gehlot and Uma Bharti are being invited. “All VIPs of Congress party are being sent invites,” Saxena said.

Nath will be taking oath as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. At 11am on Friday, Nath along with senior Congress leaders Deepak Babaria, Digvijaya Singh, Suresh Pachauri, Vivek Tankha, Ajay Singh and Arun Yadav went to Raj Bhavan and met Governor Anandiben Patel. They handed her a letter that said Congress Legislative Party had unanimously elected Kamal Nath as its leader for the 15th assembly. “Congress is the single largest party and is staking claim to form government with the support of BSP, SP and four independent legislators,” the letter said, requesting the Governor to invite Nath to form the government. The Governor’s office sent a reply, appointing him chief minister and permitting him to constitute his cabinet. TNN