New Delhi, March 23: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be again sworn in as the CM today. The oath taking will be held this evening, reports confirmed. The swearing-in of Chouhan would come barely days after Kamal Nath, the caretaker CM, resigned from the chair after the Congress failed to win back the 22 rebel legislators. This paved the way for Chouhan's return to power after 15 months.

Chouhan's oath to office will be administered by Governor Lalji Tandon at 9 pm today in Bhopal, reported news agency ANI. With this swearing-in, 60-year-old Chouhan would become a four-time Madhya Pradesh CM. He had first held the chair in 2005, followed by consecutive victories in 2008 and 2013, which allowed him to remain the chief minister for a 13-year period ending in December 2018.

Update by ANI

For the past 15 months, Nath had been leading a wafer-thin majority government in Madhya Pradesh, comprising of the Congress, along with two BSP, 1 SP and two independent MLAs. The fragile government lost the majority after 22 Congress legislators went missing earlier this month. Among them, 16 first submitted their resignations, followed by six others.

The rebel MLAs, considered close to Congress-turned-BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, joined the saffron camp on Sunday -- days after Scindia ended his 18-year stint in the Congress and joined the Modi-Shah-Nadda-headed party.

Chouhan, in the days to come, would have to prove his majority in the Madhya Pradesh assembly. With the 22 resignations, the effective majority in the House has been reduced to 105. The BJP, with 107 MLAs, is expected to sail through in the floor test. The rebel MLAs are likely to recontest from their constituencies in the by-elections -- this time on the BJP ticket.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2020 04:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).