Top Opposition leaders to attend Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath swearing-in today

Top leaders from various opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony of chief minister designates of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on Monday, days after the Congress wrested the control of the two states from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

While two-time chief minister Ashok Gehlot will take oath in Rajasthan along with his deputy Sachin Pilot, Kamal Nath, a nine-time MP from Chhindwara, will take charge in Madhya Pradesh. The ceremony in Rajasthan will be held at Albert Hall in Ramniwas Garden at 10am where besides Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, presence of several opposition leaders is expected.

These may include National Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah, Loktantrik Janata Dal’s Sharad Yadav, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s MK Stalin and Kanimozhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Hemant Soren, All India United Democratic Front’s Badruddin Ajmal and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)’s Babulal Marandi.

For the ceremony in Madhya Pradesh, which will be held at Jamboree Maidan in BHEL area around 1.30pm, the Congress has sent out invites to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee (the president of Trinamool Congress) and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati.

“I will take oath alone,” Nath told PTI Saturday, when asked who else will take oath along with him. This means that aspirants seeking ministerial berths will have to wait for some more time.

Leading industrialists and religious seers will also be in attendance, sources added.

According to Congress sources, apart from UPA chairpreson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Nath has also invited Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav for the event. Besides, chief ministers of all Congress-ruled states are being invited, they said.

(With PTI inputs)