AAP leader Atishi will take charge as Delhi Chief Minister today. She was sworn in as the eighth and only the third woman chief minister.
After Congress’ Sheila Dikshit and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj, of Delhi on Saturday. Five cabinet ministers — four from the previous ministry and a new face — were also sworn in along with her. Her name was proposed as the next Chief Minister after Arvind Kejriwal announced his resignation following an interim bail order by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case.
Atishi retained 13 portfolios she held in the Kejriwal government, including education, revenue, finance, power and PWD. However, her cabinet got a new entrant as Mukesh Ahlawat took oath as a cabinet minister. He got charge of the labour, SC and ST, employment and land and building departments, while Gopal Rai retained the portfolios he held in the Kejriwal government.
In her first speech after being sworn in as the chief minister, Atishi praised Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal and urged the people of Delhi to bring him back as the chief minister of Delhi again.
“Today, I have taken oath as Chief Minister, but it is an emotional moment for us when Arvind Kejriwal is not the CM. Arvind Kejriwal changed the lives of people of Delhi. We all have to do just one work now- to make Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister of Delhi again,” Atishi said in her first speech after taking oath.
A video also surfaced, showing the Kalkaji MLA touching Arvind Kejriwal’s feet after taking oath.
At 43 years old, Atishi is the youngest ever to be sworn in as the Delhi chief minister. She’s also only the second woman chief minister in the country at present, alongside West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee. The tenure of her government will be brief as the Delhi Assembly elections are slated to take place in February 2025.