Kamal Nath Will Take Oath as Madhya Pradesh CM on December 14, Say Sources

New Delhi: Even as the Congress is forced to choose between Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan, sources have told CNN-News18 that in Madhya Pradesh it will be Kamal Nath, and not Jyotiraditya Scindia, who will be sworn in as the new chief minister of the state.

Sources say that Kamal Nath will take oath on December 14 along with dozen other ministers.

Sajjan Siingh Verma, Tulsi Silawat, KP Singh, Bala Bachchan, Jitu Patwari, Arif Akeel, Vijay Laxmi Sadho, Govind Rajput, Laxman Singh, Tarun Bhanot, Sachin Yadav, Kamleshwar Patel, Hina Kavre, NP Prajapati, Deepak Saxena, Sanjay Sharma are some of the MLAs who will take oath along with Nath on December 14, according to sources.

In the final results declared on Wednesday morning, the party got 114 seats, two short of simple majority mark of 116 in the 230-member Assembly. It was a comfortable march past the majority mark with BSP chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav lending support of their 2 and one MLAs, respectively. Four Independents who are Congress rebels are also likely to extend support, consolidating the party’s position further.

Earlier in the day, speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Jyotiraditya Scindia said, "It will be a privilege if given the chance to become Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh."

The Congress legislature party has decided that a decision on the Chief Minister of the state will be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi.

Accepting defeat, Shivraj Singh Chouhan resigned as the Madhya Pradesh chief minster, saying he takes full responsibility for the BJP’s ouster from power in the heartland state.

Leaving from the Raj Bhavan, Chouhan said he was now a “free man” and congratulated senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, though the grand old party was yet to formally announce him as the CM pick.

In Rajasthan, two-time former Chief Minister and General Secretary of All India Congress Committee Ashok Gehlot, and former Member of Parliament and Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot are in line for the CM post. One is a party veteran and the other is a popular young leader. The Congress faces the same dilemma in Madhya Pradesh as well.