Chouhan stood between Kamal Nath and Scindia, hands linked with them and held high. But sitting among Congress and other national level opposition leaders in the front row on the dais, he seemed a bit uncomfortable. Gaur and Joshi were sitting in the back rows.

As soon as the senior Congress leaders arrived, Kamal Nath made it a point to walk up to Chouhan almost immediately (after meeting Rahul Gandhi) and talk with him for some time. Scindia also joined the conversation and later they raised their hands together in a surprise gesture.

Similarly, Congress leaders respectfully asked Joshi to move to the front rows while ex-CM Digvijaya Singh personally escorted Gaur to the front. All the BJP leaders were seen moved by the courteous gestures.

This set of gestures was quite in contrast with the regime of BJP when Opposition leaders would be ignored or slighted at public functions. Not just in Bhopal, but in other major cities and district headquarters, elected Congress leaders' names were often missing in invitation cards or plaques. In government functions, it was common to find Congress leaders who complained that either invitations were not sent or reached them later. In the past for such ceremonies only Hindu religious leaders were invited by the BJP. But in Monday’s ceremony representatives of various faiths were not only invited but given respectful place on the rostrum.

Oath of office and secrecy was administered by Governor Anandiben Patel to Kamal Nath. He took oath alone as chief minister. It was also a remarkable coincidence that Anadiben Patel, after presiding over Bhopal ceremony, had to rush to Raipur to administer oath to Bhupesh Baghel as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh.

The ceremony was witnessed by representatives of 17 political parties. Those who were present included former Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda and Dr Manmohan Singh and chief ministers Chandrababu Naidu, HD Kumaraswamy and Ashok Gehlot. Also present were Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, Farooq Abdullah, leader of the Congress contingent in the Lok Sabha Malikarjun Kharge, Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav, MK Stalin, Hemant Soren, Tejashwi Yadav, Navjot Sidhu, Raj Babbar and Bhupendra Huda. Among the major absentees were Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee. (IPA Service)

Also, for the first time since Emergency, cutouts and posters of Sanjay Gandhi were seen on the roads of Bhopal. Sanjay’s photographs have also been put up at the chief minister’s residence and his office.

Before the elections, the MP Congress had issued a 50-page Vachan Patra (Document of Promises). The 112-page document made many promises, including waiver of farm loans. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while campaigning in the state, had promised that farm loans would be waived within 10 days of the Congress forming its government. He had also warned that if that is not done, the chief minister will be asked to quit.

Keeping the promise in view, Kamal Nath acted promptly and issued the order waiving farm loans within two hours of his oath. The order said that outstanding short-term crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh as on March 31, 2018, taken from nationalised and cooperative banks, stood waived. It said the same would apply to ‘eligible farmers’ whose eligibility would be determined through an exercise.

Rough estimates show that Rs 57,000 crore worth of crop loans are outstanding as on September 30, 2018, including Rs 34,000 crores worth of loans taken from nationalised banks and Rs 8,000 crore taken from cooperative banks. This involves nearly 41 lakh farmers.

Further, there are nearly Rs 15,000 crore worth of crop loans that have been declared NPAs, involving another 21 lakh farmers, taking the total pending crop loans to the tune of Rs 71,000 crore. Complicating such a huge payout by the MP government is that the state is under a debt of Rs 1.75 lakh crore and its fiscal deficit would widen beyond manageable levels in case of a waiver. (IPA Service)