Chhattisgarh’s saffron mascot Raman Singh on Thursday took oath as chief minister for the third time in a row and turned to poll mode on day one, announcing sops for farmers and tribals, apparently keeping an eye on the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Mr Singh’s swearing-in was held at the sprawling police parade ground here where the who’s who of Chhattisgarh as well as that of the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) were present.
While top BJP leaders, including L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu, party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, chief ministers Manohar Parrikar of Goa and Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan CM-designate Vasundhara Raje Scindia graced the occasion, NDA allies Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal of the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray represented their respective parties to greet Mr Singh.
However, Orissa CM Navin Patnaik and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee did not turn up, “disappointing” the BJP leadership.
“You can see how the NDA was present in full strength on the occasion. This should serve as a warning to the Congress in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” a beaming Mr Singh remarked while addressing his first press conference after taking oath.
Exuding confidence that the NDA will form the next government at the Centre, he ruled out the possibility of Mr Modi being replaced as PM candidate.
“I am not sure what will happen after five years. But Mr Modi is going to be our prime ministerial candidate this time,” he quipped.
Immediately after taking oath, Mr Singh signed a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, urging him to urgently initiate steps to hike the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to `2,100, a promise made to the farmers of Chhattisgarh by his party before the Assembly elections in the state.
He also appealed to the Congress to mount pressure on the Centre in this direction. Mr Singh said he would form his ministry in two phases.
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NDA in full force at Raman swearing-in
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