Kamal Nath to be sworn in as CM of Madhya Pradesh on December 17

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief, Kamal Nath is going to be the new Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Congress announced on Twitter on Thursday. He will be sworn in on Saturday, December 17.

"An era of change is upon MP," the Congress tweeted late in the evening as the suspense over who would become the Chief Minister of the state continued throughout the day. "Our best wishes to Shri @OfficeOfKNath for being elected CM of Madhya Pradesh."

The announcement came shortly after Nath reached Bhopal and held a meeting of the Congress legislature party that followed his daylong meeting with party chief Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi.

"Rahul Gandhi has chosen Kamal Nath as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister," said party observer AK Antony said at the legislature party meeting.

Kamal Nath told the gathering that he would fulfil all the promises made in the party's manifesto.

Later, talking to reporters, Kamal Nath said he would meet the state Governor Anandiben Patel on Friday morning to decide on the day and time of his swearing in.

"I shall strive to be true to the trust that the people of Madhya Pradesh have reposed in me," he said. Kamal Nath was accompanied at the meeting by Scindia. Both Kamal Nath and Scindia flew to Bhopal late in the evening after four-hour-long consultations with Gandhi.

Earlier, after hours of hectic deliberations over selection of chief ministers, Congress president Rahul Gandhi late Thursday evening tweeted a smiling picture with Madhya Pradesh chief ministerial contenders Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and quoted Leo Tolstoy to say that the two most powerful warriors are patience and time. "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time," he tweeted quoting Leo Tolstoy.