(From Left) Newly inducted Minister Atishi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejwriwal, Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxean and Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj at Raj Niwas on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were sworn in as Delhi Ministers by Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a ceremony held at Raj Niwas.
While Ms. Atishi is the first woman Minister in the AAP government and will handle Education, Power, PWD, Women and Child Development, Tourism, Art, Culture and Language departments, Mr. Bharadwaj has been allocated Health, Water, Urban Development, Industries, Irrigation and Flood Control, Vigilance and Services portfolios.
Two Cabinet berths had fallen vacant following the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain on February 28. Mr. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 in connection with alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy. Mr. Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May last year in an alleged money laundering case. Both of them are currently lodged in Tihar jail. Congratulating the new Ministers, the CM tweeted, “Many congratulations and best wishes to Atishi ji and Saurabh ji on assuming new responsibilities. You both have to take forward the good work of Manish ji and Satyendar ji. People have high expectations from both of you.”
Speaking to reporters after taking the oath of office, the two AAP leaders said that they will handle the departments of Mr. Sisodia and Mr. Jain like “Bharat handled Lord Ram’s kingdom during his exile”.
“Until the time our two senior leaders who have been arrested on false charges come out of jail, Saurabh Bhardwaj and I will handle their portfolios and make sure that the revolution that they brought about in the fields of education and health care is continued,” Ms. Atishi said.
Mr. Bharadwaj said their focus will be on the flagship schemes of the Delhi government. “There are three flagship schemes of the Kejriwal government — Health care, Education and Clean Yamuna Mission. This will continue to be our main agenda apart from providing basic facilities like clean drinking water to people. Over the past couple of days, the work of the Delhi government has slowed down because of the constant attack on our leaders by the Central government, but we will make sure to catch up with the pending work,” he said
A first-time MLA, Ms. Atishi represents Kalkaji constituency in the Assembly and has served as the Advisor to Delhi’s Education Minister under Mr. Sisodia. She is also a member of AAP’s political affairs committee, the party’s highest decision-making body.
Mr. Bharadwaj is a three-time MLA from Greater Kailash and is currently the Vice Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board. He has earlier served as a Minister in the first Kejriwal Cabinet in 2015.
‘Don’t hurt Hindu sentiments’
Reacting to the statements by the two new Ministers, the BJP said by “comparing” Mr. Sisodia and Mr. Jain to Lord Ram and themselves with Bharat, Mr. Bharadwaj and Ms. Atishi have shown that they have “no regrets about the corruption” by the two former Ministers.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi are free to follow the corrupt path of their role models but they should not hurt Hindu sentiments by comparing Sisodia and Jain to Lord Ram and themselves to Bharat ji.”
