Madhya Pradesh Cabinet ministers to take oath Tuesday
Bhopal, Dec 24 : The new Cabinet of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath will take oath on December 25.
The oath ceremony would take place at Raj Bhawan here at 3 pm.
Congress veteran Nath was sworn-in as Chief Minister on December 17, six days after his party posted a narrow victory over the BJP, which ruled the state for 15 years.
Nath has been camping in New Delhi since the past three days to finalise the list of his Cabinet colleagues, to be sworn in Tuesday, in consultation with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other senior party leaders.
Their names have not been made public so far.
According to party sources, one or two Independent MLAs may get into the new Cabinet.
Though the Congress, with 114 seats, emerged as the single largest party in the 230-member Assembly, it failed to cross the halfway mark on its own and enlisted support of the BSP and the SP, which have won two seats and one, respectively.
Four Independent MLAs, who are Congress rebels, have also extended their support, taking the total number of MLAs on the Congress side to 121.
The BJP had won 109 seats.
The MP assembly session is going to begin on January 7 with the oath-taking by newly elected MLAs.
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NIA registers case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday registered a case to probe recovery of 79 crude bombs in poll-bound West Bengal, officials said.
The move came following a directive by the Union Home Ministry in this regard, they said.
In pursuance to the home ministry's order, the anti-terror agency on Sunday registered a case, which was originally filed at Uttar Kashi police station, Bhangar division, Kolkata on Saturday, and took up the investigation, an NIA spokesperson said in a late night statement.
"The case pertains to recovery of 79 crude bombs and other incriminating materials by Kolkata police, which were being stored at a spot, thereby endangering human life and property," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission had directed the West Bengal Police to launch a special drive to arrest those involved in illegal manufacturing of crude bombs in the poll-bound state, an official said.
It asserted that all cases related to the making of any such explosive would be probed by the National Investigation Agency, the official said.
The directive came after the police recovered a large number of crude bombs from the house of a person, allegedly a TMC worker, at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district, days ahead of the second and final phase of the assembly polls in the state.
The explosives were recovered during a search at the residence of Rafikul Islam following specific inputs, the official said.
The poll panel also issued a warning to senior police officers across the state over any lapse in maintaining law and order before the April 29 polling.
The first phase of the assembly elections in West Bengal was held on April 23, while the second phase will take place on April 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
A record 93.19 per cent turnout has been recorded in the first round of polling. Bhangar will vote in the second phase.
