New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi was sworn in as the Delhi Chief Minister at a ceremony at the Raj Niwas here on Saturday afternoon. Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Imran Hussain and new entrant Mukesh Ahlawat, a first-time MLA from Sultanpur Majra, took oath as Ministers in the new Cabinet.
Atishi is Delhi's 8th Chief Minister. She is also Delhi's youngest Chief Minister. She is the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi after late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and late Congress leader Sheila Dikshit. The oath to Atishi and the new Ministers was given by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. After taking oath, Atishi took blessings from Kejriwal by touching his feet.
Before the swearing-in ceremony, Atishi met former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal. President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Atishi as Chief Minister of Delhi and also accepted Arvind Kejriwal's resignation. After Kejriwal tendered resignation as Delhi chief minister along with his council of ministers to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Tuesday, files of both the resignation and government formation by Atishi were sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her nod, the officials said. The AAP MLAs met earlier this week and unanimously chose Atishi as the leader of the ruling legislature party.
Rai, Gahlot, Bharadwaj and Hussain were ministers in the outgoing Kejriwal government. AAP national convener Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar jail on September 13, spending over five months behind bars in an excise policy case. In a surprise announcement two days later, Kejriwal said he would resign in the wake of BJP's "mudslinging" against him over corruption.
Kejriwal had announced that he would return to the post of chief minister after getting a "certificate of honesty" from Delhi people in the assembly polls. The tenure of the Atishi government will be brief as assembly polls in Delhi are due in February next year.
Her government will have to fast-track and give nod to various pending policies and welfare schemes such as the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 and doorstep delivery of services, among others. In the outgoing Kejriwal government, Atishi held 13 portfolios, including finance, revenue, PWD, power and education among others.
Rai was in charge of the environment, development and general administration departments, while Bharadwaj looked after the health, tourism and urban development departments among others. Gahlot held the responsibility of transport, home and women and child development departments, while Hussain was the minister for food and supplies.
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