Atishi takes oath as Delhi CM; 5 ministers also sworn in
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi was administered oath as the eighth Chief Minister of Delhi by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Saturday.
Saxena administered the oath of office and secrecy to Atishi. She was chosen as the leader of the Legislature Party earlier this week, after her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal decided to resign.
Senior AAP leaders Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and other party leaders and MLAs were also present at the swearing-in event.
Atishi is Delhi’s third woman Chief Minister after Congress’s Sheila Dikshit and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.
She also becomes the 17th woman to hold the post of Chief Minister in independent India.
Atishi, however, will have a brief tenure in office as Assembly elections in the National Capital are due in February.
She was sworn in along with five new Council of Ministers during a ceremony at the Raj Niwas that saw AAP form the government in Delhi for the fourth time in a row.
Among her new Council of Ministers, Saurabh Bharadwaj was the first to take oath followed by Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Imran Hussain and Mukesh Ahlawat, a new entrant in the Delhi Cabinet.
In the outgoing Kejriwal government, Atishi held 13 portfolios, including Finance, Revenue, PWD, Power and Education.
President Droupadi Murmu on Friday night appointed Atishi as CM of the NCT of Delhi from the date of her being sworn in, and accepted Arvind Kejriwal's resignation. — with PTI
