The Congress on Thursday night named veteran leader Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh's next chief minister, after hours of hectic parleys held by the party chief Rahul Gandhi with senior party leaders.
Nath, 72, reached Bhopal late in night to be greeted with chants of 'Jai Jai Kamal Nath' by his supporters at the airport and headed straight for the party office for a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs to select their leader.
Nath, who served as union minister in the previous Congress-led governments, has been a top contender for the chief minister post ever since his party won against the ruling BJP, which was in power in this central Indian state for 15 years.
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Another senior party leader and former union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia was also in the race.
"Our best wishes to Shri @OfficeOfKNath for being elected CM of Madhya Pradesh. An era of change is upon MP with him at the helm," the Congress tweeted.
Speaking to media, Nath said, "The chief ministerial post is a milestone for me. On December 13, Indira Gandhi had visited Chhindwara and handed me over to the public. I would like to thank Jyotiraditya Scindia for supporting me. I have worked with his father. That is why I am happy that he supported my selection." Adding, "I assure people of Madhya Pradesh that we will fulfil our promises; a new beginning has been made".
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When Kamal Nath was named the Congress chief in Madhya Pradesh in April ahead of the Assembly polls, many in the party recalled that former prime minister Indira Gandhi described him as her "third son" who helped her take on the Morarji Desai-led regime in 1979.
Born in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to businessman father Mahendra Nath and mother Leela, Nath is an alumnus of the prestigious Doon School (at Dehradun in Uttarakhand). did his graduation from St Xavier's college, Kolkata, before taking a plunge into politics.
Nath is also a nine-time Lok Sabha MP for Chhindwara who has a handled several portfolios like environment, road transport, urban development and parliamentary affairs during different stints as union minister since 1991.
After a see-saw battle on Tuesday, Congress emerged the single largest party in Madhya Pradesh with 114 seats, two short of a simple majority. The BJP, which had ruled the state for 15 years, got 109 seats.
(With inputs from agencies)
