Shivraj Singh Chouhan (right) with party leader Gopal Bhargava (left) after he was elected as leader of BJP Legislative Party in Bhopal on Monday. Later, Shivraj Singh Chouhan took oath as 32nd Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. (PTI PHOTO)

BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan was sworn in as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh by Governor Lalji Tandon at a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in Bhopal on Monday evening. This is the fourth time Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been administered the oath of office as CM.

The ceremony was held amid a coronavirus-induced lockdown in the state capital resulting in no invitations for party leaders or the press. On earlier occasions, Chouhan had taken oath at the Jamboree Grounds in the BHEL township making it a mammoth affair.

Earlier, Chouhan was elected the leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting of MLAs held at the state BJP headquarters on Monday evening. The meeting was sparsely attended as numerous MLAs couldn’t make it to the venue owing to the lockdown.

Chouhan’s name was proposed by outgoing leader of opposition Gopal Bhargava and supported by former minister Narottam Mishra, Meena Singh, a tribal MLA and Gopilal Jatav, a dalit MLA. The entire proceedings were relayed via video conferencing to the BJP headquarters in Delhi from where vice-president and state-in-charge Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and general secretary Arun Singh who had been appointed as observer for the process, joined in.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the 32nd Chief Minister of the state. He represents Budhni constituency in Sehore district.

Outgoing CM Kamal Nath was present at the ceremony too. Kamal Nath resigned on March 20 after 22 Congress MLAs resigned and joined the BJP, pushing his government into a minority.

Soon after being administered the oath, Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that normally he would have sought the blessings of his seniors by going to them but these are exceptional circumstances under which he has taken oath as the state has been hit by the coronavirus too, and as a result would seek their blessings by folding his hands from the dais.

A cabinet expansion is likely after voting for the Rajya Sabha elections on March 26.

Almost a dozen former Congress MLAs, who have joined the BJP, are expected to be part of Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s team.