Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi today took oath as the new Chief Minister of Delhi, days after Arvind Kejriwal got bail in the Delhi liquor policy case and announced his resignation. Atishi is the youngest leader to become Delhi's Chief Minister.
Before she took oath, she and AAP leaders who are part of her cabinet met Mr Kejriwal.
Mukesh Ahlawat, a first-time MLA from Sultanpur Majra, is the face in Atishi's cabinet. The others are Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj. All of them took oath as new ministers.
The oath ceremony was a low-key event as the mood in the AAP is not upbeat due to Mr Kejriwal's resignation.
"It is an emotional moment for me as he (Arvind Kejriwal) 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 added.
Atish is Delhi's third woman Chief Minister after Sushma Swaraj of the BJP and Sheila Dikshit of the Congress. The Kalkaji MLA held multiple portfolios in the previous Arvind Kejriwal government.
She has to prove her government's majority in the 70-member assembly in a special session on September 26-27.
Atishi's elevation to the top post comes at a crucial juncture for the AAP, which is looking to retain power in the Delhi assembly election early next year. She will have to fast-track pending policies and schemes for public welfare.
Running against time, she has her task cut out to ensure implementation of schemes such as Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 and doorstep delivery of services.
Atishi is not new to rising to such situations. Her induction into the cabinet also happened when the government was going through testing times following the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last year in the liquor policy case.
Even though Atishi joined the AAP in 2013, she stayed in the background working as an adviser to the government on education policies and made a foray into electoral politics only in 2019 when she unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election from East Delhi against BJP's Gautam Gambhir.
In 2020, Atishi contested the Delhi election and won from Kalkaji.
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