Kejriwal, team will take oath on Dec 28

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party founder Arvind Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi’s fifth chief Minister on Saturday afternoon at Ramlila Maidan, from where he had launched an anti-corruption crusade under his mentor Anna Hazare in 2011.

Kejriwal, who will be sworn in along with six Cabinet ministers, will have to prove his majority on the floor of the 70-member Delhi Assembly by January 3, 2014.

The one-year-old AAP had made an electrifying debut in the elections by winning 28 seats and decimating the Congress, which got only eight seats. The BJP, along with its ally Akali Dal’s one seat, had 32 MLAs, but the party refused to form government, citing lack of majority.

The date and time of the ceremony was decided by chief secretary D.M. Sapolia in consultation with Kejriwal soon after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s proposal on government formation by the AAP with outside support from the Congress. Kejriwal said that “corruption is a big issue” and that his government would bring in a Jan Lokpal within 15 days.

Asked how he was going to pass the Lokpal as all bills have to be first cleared by the Centre, Kejriwal said, “Our Constitution says we can pass any bill, if it does not contradict Central laws. But a decision was taken in 2002 that any financial transaction-related legislation has to have the Centre’s nod.”

Kejriwal said that the Centre’s decision was against the spirit of democracy. “We had to seek sanction from London in the pre-Independence era. Now, again we have to seek clearance for Delhi’s bills from the Centre. We will contest this and bring in Jan Lokpal within 15 days.”

No VIP invite to Ramlila grounds

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal said people should first allow him to form the government and then raise questions whether his party would be able to fulfil all the 18 promises it had made to the electorate.

Kejriwal, who held a jan sabha (public meeting) outside his Ghaziabad residence, announced that just within 24 hours of government formation, all households would be provided 700 litres of water free of cost every day.

Sources close to Kejriwal said the party was in the process of preparing an action plan to implement all the promises it had made in its manifesto.

“Within days of forming the government, we will be doing an audit of all the power companies. Kejriwal said all the cases registered during the party’s agitation against inflated power bills would be withdrawn with immediate effect. “

Sources said that the CM-designate has also conveyed to the L-G that there was no need to send any VIP invitations for the swearing-in ceremony, except special invitations to social activist Anna Hazare, Justice (Retd.) Santosh Hegde and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi.