"We have staked claim," he told reporters after the meeting at Raj Bhavan. Asked who would be the Chief Minister, Kamal Nath shot back: "I don't know."
Late on Tuesday, Kamal Nath wrote to the Governor urging her to give him an appointment so that he could stake claim as the Congress had emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly with "majority support".
The Congress won 114 seats, two short of a majority in the 230-member house.
After the meeting with the Governor, Lok Sabha member and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said "of course it would be a privilege" when he was asked whether he would like to be the Chief Minister.
He said the Congress, which has won 114 seats, has the legislative majority with the backing of all four Independents and three MLAs of BSP and SP.
Scindia, one of the contenders for chief ministership, also attacked outgoing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
"You were claiming that BJP is going to win 200 seats this time. Even if we count all the BJP seats in all five states, the party has not crossed the 200 mark," he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kamal Nath said the top priority of new Congress government will be to work for "farmers and unemployed youth".
He said this after meeting the outgoing Chief Minister.
He added: "We have to create a new environment of trust in Madhya Pradesh."
Asked about the farm loan waiver promised by the party within 10 days of taking power, he said: "Let the government be formed first."
Before meeting the Governor, Kamal Nath described Chouhan as "my friend" and said "he fought a good election".
Meanwhile, Chouhan tendered his resignation to the Governor taking moral responsibility for the party's electoral loss in the state.
"Ab mai mukt hoon. (Now I am free)... The responsibility of defeat is totally mine," Chouhan said.
"No one has got the mandate. Since we have also not got the mandate, we did not stake claim to form the government," Chouhan added.
In a Facebook post in Gujarati on Monday, Patel says: "I turn 75 in November but I would request the leadership to relieve me now to allow more time to the new incumbent."
Patel said the State government's ambitious biennial Vibrant Gujarat meet this year-end and the crucial state assembly elections fall next year. She said, "The new Chief Minister will thus have adequate time to prepare for these important events."
Anandiben Patel got transferred from Madhya Pradesh to crucial Uttar Pradesh, and replaces Ram Naik as Governor there. Lalji Tandon, who was the Governor of Bihar so far, will replace her in Madhya Pradesh.
BJP MLA from Ghosi Fagu Chauhan has been appointed as the new Governor of Bihar. His exit from the Uttar Pradesh Assembly will mean another bypoll.
Jagdeep Dhankar, a senior BJP leader from Rajasthan, goes to the all-important West Bengal as Governor. He will take over the state at a time when its Trinamool Congress-led government is at loggerheads with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre.
R.N. Ravi, who was the Centre's points person in the Naga peace talks and even signed the peace accord on the government's behalf, has been appointed as the Governor of Nagaland.
Ravi is also one of the three deputy National Security Advisors (Internal Affairs), and his move to the Nagaland Raj Bhawan creates a vacancy in the National Security Council (NSC) too.
Anandiben Patel was serving as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh before being made Governor of Uttar Pradesh.
In a break of tradition, the outgoing Governor Ram Naik also attended the swearing-in ceremony. The function was attended by the Chief Minister, all the ministers and senior officers of the government.
Earlier in the day, Anandiben Patel was given the guard of honour at the airport when she arrived in a special plane. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and ministers and senior officers of the state government welcomed her at the airport.
The Governor and other staff members will ensure the children get proper medicine and nutritious food so that they can lead a healthy life.
Patel said it would be the responsibility of the staff concerned to ensure that these children get nutritious food, medicines and proper education. All the children are from an area near the Raj Bhawan and this will make their monitoring easy.
A senior Raj Bhawan official said: "The Governor had suggested that a beginning be made from the area near Raj Bhawan and later spread this protective ring."
The Governor said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set a target to make India TB-free by 2025 and keeping this in mind, the Raj Bhawan had taken the lead and decided to adopt children suffering from TB.
"Adopting a child is not an obligation. It is the responsibility of a person to help a society. Those who are rich should spare some money for these people who need help. These are small steps but can help in achieving a big target," the Governor said.
She added that the government could not reach every nook and corner of the state and it was also the responsibility of the common man to help the poor.
Patel said people of the deprived sections of society could not avail the benefits of government schemes because they did not know about them.
"It is our responsibility to ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach the people who need them the most," she said.
District Leprosy Officer Dr P.K. Gupta said that in Lucknow alone, around 14,600 TB patients had been identified and all of them would get Rs 500 as nutrition allowance.