Atishi sworn in as youngest woman chief minister of Delhi; key leaders join her cabinet

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, who held over a dozen portfolios, including finance, revenue, power, and education in the Kejriwal-led government on Sep 21 took oath as the youngest and the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi during a ceremony at the Raj Niwas.

She succeeded Arvind Kejriwal, who resigned from the post on Sep 17 after being released on bail in the excise policy case. Along with Atishi, five other newly appointed ministers — Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, Kailash Gahlot, and Sultanpur Majra MLA Mukesh Ahlawat — were also sworn into the Delhi Cabinet.

In her first remarks after taking oath, Chief Minister Atishi slammed the BJP for hatching a "conspiracy" against her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal, and urged the people of the capital to ensure that the AAP chief returns to the top post after the Assembly polls early next year.

Addressing a press conference, Atishi said it is an "emotional day" for her as Kejriwal will not continue to be the chief minister.
“BJP implicated Arvind Kejriwal in a false case and did everything to break him. He is the person who has changed the image of Delhi in the last 10 years,” she added.

She said Kejriwal understood the pain of every person.

“He ensured free treatment for people and worked to improve the lives of the students of government schools. He brought the provision of free bus rides for women besides many other welfare programs," she added.

Atishi, 43, a first-time MLA from Kalkaji, became the 17th woman to hold the post of chief minister in the country and Delhi's youngest third woman chief minister.

The Oxford-Alumna, Atishi, was the most prominent face of AAP, particularly after Deputy CM and Education Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested in an alleged Delhi excise policy case. She was AAP's prominent face and BJP's fiercest critique when both Sisodia and Kejriwal were behind bars in the liqor case.

Atishi served as Sisodia’s Advisor till April 2018 and played a pivotal role in revamping the state of education in government-run schools in the national capital. She is also credited for popular initiatives like the ‘Happiness Curriculum’ in Delhi schools.

The four retained ministers in the new Cabinet are expected to keep their previous portfolios, while Ahlawat — the new face- may be assigned those left vacant after the resignation of minister Raaj Kumar Anand in April.

Notably, Gopal Rai oversaw the environment, development, and general administration departments.

Saurabh Bharadwaj looked after health, tourism, urban development, and other portfolios. Kailash Gahlot handled transport, home, and women and child development, while Imran Hussain took care of the food and supplies department in the previous Kehriwal-led government.

Under Atishi's government, the AAP is aiming to complete pending works until the assembly elections.
Atishi and senior party leaders have upheld that the party's focus now is to ensure Kejriwal returns to power with a larger mandate in the next assembly polls.

Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on Sep 13, after spending over five months in detention in the excise policy case. Announcing his resignation, Kejriwal had said that he would return to the post only after getting a "certificate of honesty" from people in the assembly polls.

BJP called Atishi a “dummy” chief minister. "It is a dummy government and a dummy chief minister. It will be a remote-control run government," said Vijender Gupta, Leader of Opposition in Delhi assembly in a statement soon after Atishi took oath.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla called Atishi the 'new Manmohan Singh'.

"I congratulate the people of Delhi as they got the 'new Manmohan Singh' as the real power will be with Arvind Kejriwal - he will be the de facto CM and Atishi will be de jure CM," said Poonawalla in a statement.

"The Court has given such bail conditions that Arvind Kejriwal wasn't able to function as CM directly, hence an OPS system has begun here. But, we all know how nature and character aren't changed but just the face," he added.