Gehlot in Rajasthan, Baghel in Chhattisgarh, Kamal Nath in MP to be sworn in as Congress CMs today

New Delhi, Dec 17: The Congress chief minister-designates of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will take the oath of office on Monday. The swearing-in ceremonies in the three states are being seen as another opportunity to present a united opposition front against the ruling BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Ashok Gehlot would be sworn is as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan in Jaipur around 10 am, followed by Kamal Nath as CM of Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal around 1 pm and Bhupesh Baghel as Chhattisgarh chief minister around 4 pm in Raipur.

While Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be attending all the three oath-taking ceremonies, other prominent opposition leaders likely to attend the events include former prime minister H D Devegowda and Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will be attending the events along with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, other leaders invited include AIUDF leader Badruddin Ajmal, TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi and LJD leader Sharad Yadav.

The Congress has also invited the Aam Aadmi Party and its leader Sanjay Singh is likely to attend the events.

Among other opposition leaders who have been invited and are likely to attend the ceremonies include JMM's Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Vikas Manch leader Babulal Marandi, Swabhimani Paksh leader Raju Shetty and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.

Rajasthan - Ashok Gehlot

The swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister-designate Ashok Gehlot and deputy Chief Minister-designate Sachin Pilot is scheduled to take place at Jaipur's historic Albert Hall on Monday at 10am. Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi and senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge are expected to attend the ceremony along with a host of other leaders from across the political spectrum.

Former prime ministers H D Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh, National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav are some of the political bigwigs who would grace the event.

According to sources in Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav, DMK's M K Stalin and Kanimozhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Hemant Soren, Janata Vikas Morcha's Babulal Marandi and All India United Democratic Front leader Badruddin Ajmal are also likely to participate. AAP MLA Sanjay Singh will attend the ceremony in Jaipur.

After winning 99 out of 199 seats in Rajasthan, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the state piping the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government.

Madhya Pradesh — Kamal Nath

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Kamal Nath will take oath at the Jamboree Maidan in Bhopal at 1.30pm and the ceremony will be preceded by an all-religion prayer meeting.

Apart from Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, former PMs Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda will also attend the ceremony. Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy, DMK leaders MK Stalin and Kanimozhi are also scheduled to attend the event, Congress media cell chairperson Shobha Oza told PTI.

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.

Chhattisgarh CM-designate Bhupesh Baghel

Congress on Sunday named Bhupesh Baghel as the chief minister face of Chhattisgarh. Baghel will take oath-taking ceremony will take place at 5pm on Monday. Along with party chief Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu has confirmed his attendance at the event.

In Chhattisgarh, Congress romped to power after 15 years with a two-thirds majority, winning 68 seats in the 90-member House.

Photo credit: PTI