Kamal Nath sworn in as Madhya Pradesh chief minister
Bhopal, Dec 17 : Congress leader Kamal Nath was sworn in as the 18th chief minister of Madhya Pradesh here Monday.
Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to Nath, 72. The governor had on Friday invited Nath to form the new government in the state.
The Congress on Thursday named Nath, the nine-time Lok Sabha member from Chhindwara, to head the state Congress Legislature Party, after hours of hectic parleys held by party chief Rahul Gandhi with senior party leaders.
Nath, who has held several portfolios in the Union cabinet, was appointed the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee president on April 26 and was at the forefront in steering the party to a win in the November 28 Assembly polls.
The results were declared on December 11.
The Congress, which won 114 seats, has secured support of 121 MLAs, including SP (1) and BSP (2) legislators and four independents, to cross the majority mark of 116 seats in the 230-member Assembly.
The BJP, which ruled the state for 15 years, got 109 seats in the elections. The saffron party's Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the state's longest serving chief minister since taking charge in 2005.
Those present at the swearing in ceremony included Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot, MPs Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, DMK's MK Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Kamal Nath's predecessor and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan were also present.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
On Eid, Shia Muslims in MP denounce killing of Khamenei; chant slogans against US, Israel
Bhopal (PTI): Most members of the Shia Muslim community refrained from celebrating Eid on Saturday as they denounced the killing of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israel strikes, and chanted slogans against the two countries in protest.
However, members of the Sunni Muslim community celebrated the festival with fervour by flooding Eidgahs across the state to offer prayers.
Eid is being celebrated across the country on Saturday.
After offering namaz, Shias raised slogans against the United States and Israel for their attack on Iran.
To register their protest against Khamenei's killing, some of them arrived at the prayer grounds in Bhopal and elsewhere in the state wearing black armbands and dressed in simple and old clothes, reflecting a sombre mood.
Children from the Shia community were also seen wearing black armbands.
A photograph of Khamenei was placed at the Imambara in the state capital.
Khamenei was killed in the last week of February. He belonged to the Shia community.
During the address, Maulana Razi-ul-Hasan spoke about standing up against oppression.
Talking to PTI over phone from Burhanpur, All India Shia Samaj state president Iftikhar Ali, popularly known as Jaani Pahalwan, said, "After offering namaz at Sidhipura Imamiya Masjid and thereafter raising slogans against US- Israel, I returned home. My community and I are not celebrating Eid."
He said he was not celebrating the joyous festival due to the Israel-US excesses in Iran.
Around 4,000 Shia families in the state are largely concentrated in Bhopal, Jabalpur, Indore, Vidisha, Ujjain, Burhanpur, Itarsi in Narmadapuram district and Jaora in Ratlam district, he added.
Sunnis celebrated the festival across Madhya Pradesh by offering namaz in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, and other places.
In Bhopal, their city Qazi Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadvi announced the celebration of Eid after the moon was not sighted on Thursday.
The first namaz was offered at the Eidgah at 7.30 am on Saturday, followed by prayers at Jama Masjid and Moti Masjid.
A special prayer was held at Taj-ul-Masajid under the supervision of Maulana Hassan Sahib where a large number of people were present.
