Shivraj Singh Chouhan takes oath as Madhya Pradesh chief minister for fourth time, says priority is to fight COVID19

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday took oath as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at Raj Bhavan in Bhopal. This will be his fourth term as the chief minister of the state.

Bhopal: BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan takes oath as the Chief Minister of #MadhyaPradesh, at Raj Bhavan. pic.twitter.com/nJuy5TCQR2

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2020

Taking to Twitter, Chouhan thanked his followers for their wishes and said that his priority was to fight the COVID19 ." Rest can wait," he said.According to ANI,  he also appealed to party workers to stay at home and not celebrate his swearing-in in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

आप की शुभकामनाओं के लिए हृदय की गहराइयों से धन्यवाद। मेरी सबसे पहली प्राथमिकता #COVIDー19 से मुक़ाबला है। बाक़ी सब बाद में... — Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) March 23, 2020

Chouhan was unamiously elected as state BJP Legistature Party leader at Bhopal in the evening.The legislature party members - wearing masks due to coronavirus threat and sitting two chairs away from each other - had elected Chouhan as their leader. BJP's central observers Arun Singh and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe joined the meeting via video conferencing from Delhi.

The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state had crumbled after 22 party MLAs had resigned and joined the BJP.

With inputs from agencies