Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister on Monday night in a simple ceremony at Raj Bhawan in view of the coronavirus pandemic. He has succeeded Kamal Nath who resigned on March 20 as his Congress government shrunk to a minority following defection of 22 MLAs along with their leader Jyotiraditya Scindia last week after a 17-day long political drama.
Governor Lalji Tandon swore Chouhan as 32nd Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh which was founded in 1956. He is the first chief minister in the state to adorn the office for a fourth time. He has made a history by staying on the post for 13 years at a stretch from 2005 to 2018.
Chouhan, 61, who took the oath of office alone, told media persons after swearing-in ceremony that this is not the time for festivity because the country is facing a big challenge of fighting the menace of corona virus.
Earlier, after being elected leader in the BJP legislature party meeting, Chouhan said it was a moment of great emotion for him.
“The outgoing government has destroyed the state and a new beginning has to be made in governance.
He proceeded from the Raj Bhawan straight to the state secretariat and discussed ways with top officials ways to combat the threat from corona virus. The state already has confirmed six cases of the pandemic.
In the meeting, Gopal Bhargava proposed Chouhan’s name which was seconded by state BJP president VD Sharma. The meeting had very few MLAs as a precautionary measure. Rest of the MLAs nodded their approval on Chouhan’s name through video conferencing.