Mohan Yadav to take oath as Madhya Pradesh CM; PM Modi, Amit Shah to attend ceremony
Bhopal (PTI): Mohan Yadav will take oath as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh here on Wednesday and the event will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the chief ministers of BJP-ruled states among others, a party leader said.
The state will also have two deputy chief ministers - Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda. They will also take oath along with Yadav, state BJP chief Vishnu Dutt Sharma said.
Elaborate arrangements have been made for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled at 11.30 am at the Lal Parade Ground in Bhopal, Sharma and outgoing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters on Tuesday after reviewing preparations for the ceremony.
"Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda, the chief ministers of several BJP-ruled states and central ministers among others will attend the oath-taking ceremony," Sharma said.
Chouhan said as a caretaker chief minister it was his duty to see that all preparations were made for the swearing-in ceremony.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will also attend the function, a BJP spokesperson said.
A large number of Bharatiya Janata Party workers, especially from Yadav's hometown Ujjain, are also expected to be present for the ceremony, party sources said.
Ending days of suspense, the BJP on Monday picked Yadav as the new chief minister of the state and denied party stalwart Shivraj Singh Chouhan a record fifth term in office.
Yadav (58), a minister in the Chouhan government, was elected unanimously as the BJP legislative party leader during a meeting on Monday.
Senior BJP leader and newly-elected MLA Narendra Singh Tomar, who was among contenders for the CM's post, will be the new assembly speaker.
Yadav, who was not being seen as a contender for the top post, is considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and hails from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community which accounts for more than 48 per cent of the state's population.
After he was named as chief minister-designate on Monday, Yadav met Governor Mangubhai Patel and staked a claim to form the next government.
Yadav was elected as MLA from Ujjain South seat for the first time in 2013. He retained the assembly seat in 2018 and again in 2023.
In the last month's assembly elections, the BJP won 163 of the 230 assembly seats in the state, relegating the Congress to a distant second with 66 seats.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
