New Delhi. Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi has become the new Chief Minister of Delhi. In a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan on Saturday, Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena administered the oath of office and secrecy to her. Five more ministers took oath along with her. Atishi is the ninth Chief Minister of Delhi. She has also broken Arvind Kejriwal’s record of becoming the youngest Chief Minister. Kejriwal became CM at the age of 45, while Atishi became Chief Minister at the age of 43. She is the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi and the 17th woman Chief Minister of the country.
However, after taking oath on Saturday, Atishi touched the feet of Arvind Kejriwal. After Atishi, four ministers of the previous government, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot and Imran Hussain took oath. Mukesh Ahlawat has been made a minister as a new face. He comes from the Dalit community. Ahlawat has been made a minister on the seat vacated by the resignation of Rajkumar Anand. One ministerial post is still vacant in the government.
However, after the swearing-in, the departments have been divided among the ministers of the new government. Chief Minister Atishi kept 13 departments with herself, including education, PWD and finance. Saurabh Bhardwaj, who was sworn in second after her, was given the responsibility of eight major departments, including health. The departments of the rest of the ministers were the same as before. New minister Ahlawat was given the departments of Rajkumar Anand.
After taking oath, Atishi held a press conference and told about her priorities. She said that Arvind Kejriwal has changed the lives of the people of Delhi. But the BJP people did not like this, Kejriwal was put in jail. She said that she will not let the conspiracy of BJP succeed. Atishi said- When Kejriwal has come out of jail, instead of taking up the work of the Chief Minister again, he has considered it better to go to the court of the people. Elections are to be held after four months, all of you have to make Kejriwal the Chief Minister again with a huge majority. Atishi said- I will not let the work of Delhi stop. Arvind Kejriwal has now come out of jail. Under his guidance, I will try to get all the pending works of the people of Delhi done.
It is worth noting that Kejriwal was granted bail by the Supreme Court on September 13 in the alleged liquor policy scam. Two days after coming out of jail, Kejriwal announced his resignation and two days later on September 17, a meeting of Aam Aadmi Party MLAs was held at Kejriwal’s residence, in which Atishi was elected as the new leader. If AAP wins the elections to be held in February, Arvind Kejriwal will become the Chief Minister again.