Raman Singh sworn in as Chhattisgarh CM

Ayurvedic doctor-turned-politician Raman Singh was today sworn in as the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh for the third consecutive term.

61-year-old Singh was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Shekhar Dutt during a grand swearing-in ceremony at the Police Parade Ground where tight security arrangements were put in place.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by BJP President Rajnath Singh, senior party leader L.K. Advani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, among others.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parriker, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje Scindia, who will take oath as Rajasthan Chief Minister tomorrow, were also present.

The ceremony was also attended by BJP leaders Harshavardhan Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Ravishankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Navjot Singh Siddhu, Ananth Kumar, Uma Bharati, Smriti Irani and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda.

The BJP registered a thumping victory by winning 49 of the 90 seats, one less than its 2008 tally. Congress could bag 39 seats in the 90-member Assembly, while the rest of the two seats went to BSP and an Independent each.

Singh retained his Rajnandgaon Assembly constituency by defeating Congress’ candidate Alka Mudliyar, wife of former Congress MLA Uday Mudliyar, who was killed in the Darbha naxal attack in May, by a margin of 35,866 votes.

Singh has now joined the elite club of BJP chief ministers who have scored hat-tricks in their respective states.

Posters, banners and pamphlet carrying Singh’s photo were put on almost all the roads and market areas across the city.

Singh, the two-term Chief Minister who had an uninterrupted 10-year rule in the tribal-dominated state, earned the ‘Chawal Wale Baba” sobriquet for the popularity of his unique pro-welfare schemes. including distribution of rice at Rs one and Rs two per kg to families belonging to extremely poor and below poverty line categories, respectively.

Born on October 15, 1952 in Kawardha, Singh, a ‘Rajput’, has been active in politics since 1976.

Interacting with reporters yesterday, Singh had said, “It is a failure of Congress strategists. They were so involved in 18 seats (which went to polls in the first phase on November 11), that they did not think of the 19th seat. Even Rahul Gandhi used to talk about 18 seats and he also did not talk about 19th seat.”

Singh had said he would concentrate on good governance and more development work during his third tenure.

Balloting in Chhattisgarh was held on November 11 and 19 and the result was announced on December 8.

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