Atishi to Be Sworn In As Delhi’s New Chief Minister in Low-Key Ceremony

New Delhi: Senior AAP leader Atishi is all set to be sworn in as the chief minister of Delhi on Saturday. Unlike outgoing chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s grand swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan, she is expected to take the oath at a low-key event at Raj Niwas. Party insiders said that the oath ceremony will be held at 4.30 pm on Saturday.

However, interestingly, President Droupadi Murmu is yet to accept Mr Kejriwal's resignation. Officials who are privy to these developments said that Mr Kejriwal’s resignation was forwarded to the President for acceptance but a notification on it had not been issued till late Friday evening. However, they claimed that it will be issued on Saturday.

Under the rules, a final notification is issued after Rashtrapati Bhavan accepts the resignation. Under Article 239AA (5) of the Constitution, the President appoints the Delhi chief minister, and ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the CM. After the President accepts the resignation of a sitting CM, they continue as a caretaker CM unless a new head is appointed if the Assembly has not been dissolved.

A day after the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Kejriwal will be holding a “janata ki adalat” at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Sunday, where he will exhort voters to bring him back in the coming Assembly elections so that he can again serve them as the chief minister.

With the AAP declaring names of five ministers, intense lobbying is on within the party for the sixth slot in Ms Atishi’s Cabinet. While four old faces are going to retain their berths in the new Cabinet, the AAP has so far declared the name of only one fresh Dalit face who would also be part of her new Cabinet.

AAP MLA Mukesh Ahlawat is going to be the new face in the Delhi Cabinet, while the others to be retained are Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot and Imran Hussain.

There is suspense whether one more MLA will be inducted in the new Cabinet. Besides the chief minister, a maximum of six ministers can be inducted in the Delhi Cabinet. Since the tenure of the chief minister and the new entrant will be brief, with the Delhi Assembly polls due in February next year, there is a good chance that Ms Atishi’s Cabinet may have only five ministers.

A senior AAP functionary said that several party legislators are lobbying to get a berth in the new Cabinet. “But no decision has been taken yet on whether to include one more minister in the new Cabinet,” he added.

Mr Ahlawat, MLA from Delhi’s Sultanpur Majra, is being inducted to fill the vacancy created following the resignation of social welfare minister Raaj Kumar Anand. Mr Anand resigned from the Kejriwal government and quit the AAP in April.

Mr Rai, Mr Bharadwaj, Mr Gahlot and Mr Hussain, who are part of outgoing chief minister Mr Kejriwal’s council of ministers, will be in the new Cabinet as well.

The oath ceremony of the new chief minister is going be a “low-key affair” given the circumstances of Mr Kejriwal’s resignation. Ms Atishi has herself said that Mr Kejriwal’s resignation was an “extremely sad moment”.

After winning the Assembly polls, Mr Kejriwal’s oath-taking was held at Ramlila Maidan in the presence of thousands of people. “Since Ms Atishi is going to be the chief minister till the results of the next Assembly elections are announced, there is no need to hold any grand ceremony. This is just a stop-gap arrangement. The chief minister’s chair belongs only to Mr Kejriwal,” a two-time AAP MLA told this reporter.

Ms Atishi and Mr Bharadwaj were inducted into the Kejriwal Cabinet after the AAP national convenor's trusted lieutenants Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain resigned in February last year.

Mr Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister earlier this week, after which Ms Atishi, chosen by the AAP chief as his successor, staked claim to forming a new government.

Ms Atishi holds 13 major portfolios in the Cabinet headed by Mr Kejriwal, including finance, revenue, PWD and education. Her experience in handling so many portfolios was among the reasons she was picked to succeed Mr Kejriwal.

Mr Rai is in charge of environment, development and general administration, while Mr Bharadwaj helms the health, tourism and urban development departments, among others.

Mr Gahlot holds the portfolios of transport, home and women and child development, while Mr Hussain is the minister for food and supplies.