Atishi to take oath as Delhi CM at Raj Niwas today, say officials

The swearing-in ceremony of AAP leader Atishi as Delhi chief minister and her council of ministers will be held at Raj Niwas on Saturday afternoon, 21 September, officials said.

Officials at the lieutenant governor's office said president Droupadi Murmu has appointed Atishi as chief minister of Delhi from the date of her being sworn in and has also accepted Arvind Kejriwal's resignation.

The president also cleared the appointment of five ministers and the oath-taking ceremony will take place at 4.30 pm at Raj Niwas, they said.

According to an AAP leader, the ceremony is likely to be a low-key affair as the mood in the party is not upbeat because of Kejriwal's resignation and also because of the delay in approvals, leaving little time for preparations.

After Kejriwal tendered resignation as Delhi chief minister along with his council of ministers to lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena on Tuesday, files of both the resignation and government formation by Atishi were sent to president Droupadi Murmu for her nod, the officials said.

The AAP MLAs met earlier this week and unanimously chose Atishi as the leader of the ruling legislature party.

The new council of ministers announced by the AAP would include Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Imran Hussain and new entrant Mukesh Ahlawat, a first-time MLA from Sultanpur Majra.

Rai, Gahlot, Bharadwaj and Hussain are ministers in the outgoing Kejriwal government.

AAP national convener Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar jail on 13 September, spending over five months behind bars in an excise policy case. In a surprise announcement two days later, Kejriwal said he would resign in the wake of BJP's "mudslinging" against him over corruption.

Kejriwal had announced that he would return to the post of chief minister after getting a "certificate of honesty" from Delhi people in the assembly polls.

The tenure of the Atishi government will be brief as Assembly polls in Delhi are due in February 2025.

Her government will have to fast-track and give nod to various pending policies and welfare schemes such as the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 and doorstep delivery of services, among others.

In the outgoing Kejriwal government, Atishi held 13 portfolios, including finance, revenue, PWD, power and education among others.

Rai was in charge of the environment, development and general administration departments, while Bharadwaj looked after the health, tourism and urban development departments among others.

Gahlot held the responsibility of transport, home and women and child development departments, while Hussain was the minister for food and supplies.

AAP sources said the four ministers retained in the new cabinet were likely to hold their previous portfolios while Ahlawat could have the departments lying vacant following the resignation of minister Raaj Kumar Anand in April 2024.