Bhupesh Baghel sworn in as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister 

Chhattisgarh Congress President Bhupesh Baghel was sworn-in on Monday, December 17, as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh.

Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office and secrecy at a ceremony held at Balbeer Juneja Indoor Stadium in Budhatalab area, Chhattisgarh.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, along with Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other opposition leaders including Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Yadav were present at the oath ceremony of Bhupesh Baghel as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister. Former chief minister Raman Singh also attended the ceremony.

Congress stormed to power in Chhattisgarh in the recent Assembly elections, winning 68 seats and ending the 15 year rule of the Raman Singh-led BJP government in the state.

Baghel took control of the Chhattisgarh unit of the party in October 2014, about a year-and-a-half after several senior Congress leaders, including VC Shukla and then party chief Nand Kumar Patel, were killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma. He was given the responsibility to revive the party following the third consecutive defeat in the 2013 Assembly elections.

When the party was struggling, Baghel, along with TS Singh Deo mobilised and motivated Congress workers.

Born on August 23, 1961, in a farmer family in Durg district, he made his debut as a lawmaker from Patan in 1993 in undivided Madhya Pradesh. He won in 1998 and 2003 as well from the same constituency. He was the transport minister in Digvijay Singh government in 1999. After the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, he also served as the revenue minister in the Ajit Jogi government (2000-2003).

But in the 2008 Assembly polls, he was defeated by BJP's Vijay Baghel. A year later, he contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Raipur and lost to BJP's Ramesh Bais.

Following successive defeats, both at personal and party level, it wasn't easy for Baghel. But he tasted success in 2013, when he won from Patan, the seat that again voted for in 2018 assembly polls.