Congress CMs take oath in three Hindi heartland states amid opposition bonhomie, absence of key allies

The Congress chief ministers in three heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh took oath amid much fanfare on 17 December 2018 in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and a host of opposition leaders. It was heartening to see the bonhomie amongst political leaders and alliance partners from different states amid talks of a united anti-BJP front at an all-India level to defeat the ruling party in the Lok sabha elections next year. But the absence of key Mahagathbandhan allies like BSP supremo Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal was all too visible.