Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi Marlena took oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on Saturday, replacing Arvind Kejriwal to become the youngest and the third woman to hold the position, during a ceremony at the Raj Niwas.
Along with her, five other newly appointed ministers — Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, Kailash Gahlot, and new Sultanpur Majra MLA Mukesh Ahlawat — were also sworn in to the Delhi Cabinet.
While Arvind Kejriwal handed over his resignation as CM to Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena earlier this week, Atishi presented a letter stating she had been elected as the leader of the AAP Legislature Party.
Following this, Saxena proposed September 21 as the day for holding the CM-designate’s swearing-in ceremony to the President and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
As CM, Kejriwal did not have any portfolio assigned to him. However, AAP leaders said this was unlikely to be the case with Atishi.
“The top leadership has made it clear that Atishi has to focus on governance. She is expected to retain key portfolios such as finance, education, PWD, and power. While Arvind ji will focus on politics and poll campaigns, the new Cabinet has a lot of work to do,” a party leader said.