‘It’s an emotional moment,’ says Atishi after taking oath as Delhi’s third woman chief minister
NEW DELHI, SEPT 21: Senior AAP leader Atishi, in her first remarks after taking oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi, said it is an “emotional day” for her as former CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal could not complete his tenure.
Addressing a press conference after her swearing-in ceremony at the Raj Niwas today, Atishi accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy against Kejriwal and urged the people of Delhi to work towards bringing him back as the CM.
“It is an emotional moment for me as he will not be the chief minister. He understood the pain of every person. He ensured free treatment for people, worked to improve the lives of the students of government schools, brought the provision of free bus rides for women,” Atishi said.
“I assure you that since Kejriwal has come out of jail now, we will not let any conspiracy of the BJP succeed,” she said.
Referring to Kejriwal as her ‘guru,’ Atishi asserted that she will not let the BJP conspiracies against him win.
“The BJP implicated him in a false case and did everything to break him…I assure you that since Kejriwal has come out of jail now, we will not let any conspiracy of the BJP succeed,” Atishi said.
Atishi has become the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit. She has also become the second sitting woman Chief Minister after Mamata Banarjee.
She is the 17th woman Chief Minister in the country.
Atishi’s cabinet witnessed the swearing-in of Mukesh Ahlawat, MLA from Sultanpur Majra, as the new face. The newly-formed government has retained four ministers namely Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Imran Hussain.
The oath ceremony was a “low-key affair” given the circumstances of Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation. The newly-appointed CM will prove her majority in the Delhi Assembly during a session called by the ruling AAP dispensation on September 26-27.
Ahead of taking oath, Atishi went to Kejriwal’s house to meet him. After the meeting, Atishi and other ministers reached ‘Raj Nivas’ with the party national convenor.
The Delhi cabinet can have a maximum of seven ministers, including the Chief Minister, but AAP has so far named only six ministers. The name of the seventh member is yet to be announced.
Initially, the ruling party in the national capital had decided that only Atishi would be sworn in. However, it was later said that her council of ministers would also take the oath.
Ahlawat, who belongs to the Dalit community, is a first-time MLA and has been inducted to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Social Welfare Minister Raaj Kumar Anand.
Anand resigned from the Kejriwal government and the AAP in April, subsequently joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Ahalawat is currently the co-in-charge of the party’s Rajasthan unit.
In the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, he led AAP to victory in the Sultanpur Majra constituency by defeating BJP’s Ram Chander Chawriya with a margin of 48,042 votes.
Ahlawat is known to be an important Dalit face of AAP from North West Delhi. Notably, Ahlawat’s name was in discussion during the Lok Sabha elections as AAP’s candidate from North West Delhi seat. However, due to the alliance seat-sharing formula, the seat went to Congress.
Atishi’s elevation to the top post came at a crucial juncture for the party (AAP), which is looking to return to power in the Delhi Assembly polls early next year as well as for the government that will now have to fast-track pending policies and schemes for public welfare.
-PTI
