'Kamal' replaces Kamal in Madhya Pradesh; Chouhan back as Chief Minister
Bhopal: Just 15 months after losing power, BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan was back as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on Monday night for a record fourth term and immediately faces the daunting task of stemming the spread of the coronavirus.
The 61-year-old MLA from Budhni took oath of office in a simple function at Raj Bhawan, where he was sworn-in by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm.
Chouhan was on the only one to be sworn-in and is likely to name his cabinet later this week. In the evening, Chouhan was elected leader of the state BJP legislature party at its meeting here.
He reached Raj Bhawan about half an hour before the ceremony to stake claim to form the government and completed other formalities.
Outgoing chief minister Kamal Nath also attended Chouhan's swearing-in ceremony. Former chief minister and BJP leader Uma Bharti was also present on the occasion. The function was not open for the media.
However, BJP MLAs, most of them wearing masks, reached the Raj Bhawan from BJP office in three buses amid the coronavirus scare. Some BJP leaders accompanied these MLAs, who were seen flashing victory.
The Madhya Pradesh BJP legislature party unanimously elected Chouhan as its leader, paving the way for him to take over as chief minister, succeeding Nath, whose government collapsed following a rebellion by 22 Congress MLAs.
In the meeting, senior BJP MLA and ex-leader of opposition Gopal Bhargava proposed the name of Chouhan as legislature party leader, which was endorsed by Narottam Mishra, Vijay Shah, Meena Singh, Paras Jain and other MLAs.
After this process, party's central observer, general secretary Arun Singh, who was participating through video conferencing from Delhi, announced Chouhan's name as leader of the BJP legislature party.
This will be Chouhan's forth term as CM. He had became CM for the first time in November 2005.
Later, he won two consecutive assembly elections in 2008 and 2013 and extended his term in office, eventually becoming the longest-serving CM, a record earlier held by Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh (1993-2003).
Popularly known among his followers as 'Mamaji', Chouhan was sworn in chief minister thrice earlier - in 2005, after Uma Bharti stepped down over a riots case, and for later two full terms in 2008 and 2013.
After failing to gain majority in November 2018 Assembly election, which was a closely fought affair between the BJP and the Congress, Chouhan had to step down as CM on December 12, 2019.
The BJP (109 seats) lost the election despite getting more vote share than the Congress, which emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats.
In the 230-member house, the BJP currently has 107 legislators. The Congress strength got reduced to 92 following the resignations of 22 of its MLAs.
Stumped by the rebellion of party colleague Jyodiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP and resignations of 22 Congress MLAs, Nath resigned as chief minister last week, paving way for Chouhan's return.
Nath stepped down on March 20 after the assembly speaker accepted the resignations of rebel Congress MLAs. With this, the strength of the house also reduced to 222, trimming down the majority mark to 104.
In this situation, the BJP has the majority with 107 107 MLAs and it is likely to get the support of Independents as well as BSP and SP MLAs.
Earlier, the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by Chouhan, had directed Nath to prove his majority on the floor of the assembly by 5 pm on March 20. Nath opt to resign instead of facing the floor test.
Born on March 5, 1959, to a farming family of Prem Singh Chouhan and Sundar Bai at village Jait in Sehore district, Chouhan's long journey in public life began with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) when he was just 13 years.
Chouhan rose through the ranks in the BJP and became one of the formidable state leaders of the saffron party. During his decades-long political career, he served in different party posts and also as an MLA, MP and eventually became chief minister.
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.
We received request; will decide soon whether to support TVK: Thirumavalavan
Chennai (PTI): VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Thursday said that his party received a request from TVK for support and the high-level committee of his party will decide whether to support the Vijay-led party to form the government.
The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly and emerged as the single largest party. Vijay will have to resign from one of the two constituencies he has won.
Though the Congress party, which has five MLAs, has extended support to TVK, the actor-politician-led party was still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark in the 234-member House.
"We received the request letter from TVK. We are thankful for that. We have not ignored his (Vijay's) request. We have a procedure. Therefore, our party's high-level committee will decide soon. We are going to discuss the merits and demerits of our position," the VCK leader told reporters here.
With regard to the delay in the governor's call to the TVK, which is the single largest party, to form the government, Thirumavalavan requested the governor to invite Vijay to form the government. "It is a constitutional right and people's verdict," he added.
Asserting that the governor cannot say that Vijay should hold 118 MLAs' support now itself to form the government, he said that after taking over power, Vijay has to prove an absolute majority only on the floor of the Assembly.
