Bhopal: On Monday, Bhupesh Baghel was sworn in as the third chief minister of Chhattisgarh, which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh in 2000.
Fifty-seven year old Mr Baghel was administered oath of office and secrecy by in-charge governor of Chhattisgarh Anandiben Patel.
Two other Congress MLAs, T.S. Singh Deo and Tamradhwaj Sahu, also took oath as ministers in the Bhupesh Baghel Cabinet. Mr Baghel will expand his ministry later.
The venue of the swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister was shifted from an open ground in the Government Science College in Raipur in Chhattisgarh to the nearby Balbir Singh Juneja Indoor Stadium at the last minute when heavy downpour lashed the city in the afternoon.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi; former PM Manmohan Singh; chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Chandrababu Naidu and HD Kumaraswamy respectively; and leaders of some regional parties, besides former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, attended the occasion.
Congress won a landslide victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh and stormed to power in the state after a gap of 15 years.
The party secured 68 out of the total 90 Assembly seats, forcing BJP to contend with just 15 seats.
