AAP MLA from Sultanpur to be inducted into Cabinet headed by Atishi

AAP MLA from Sultanpur Majra Mukesh Ahlawat will be inducted into the Delhi Cabinet headed by Atishi, who will be sworn in as chief minister on September 21. Ahlawat will take oath along with four ministers- Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot and Imran Hussain, who are part of outgoing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Council of Ministers as well. It is uncertain at the moment, whether or not the above said ministers will retain their portfolios.

The Delhi cabinet can have a maximum of seven ministers, including the Chief Minister, but the AAP has so far named only six ministers. The name of the seventh member is yet to be announced. The AAP said Chief Minister-designate Atishi and her new Cabinet will take the oath of office on the same day. Initially, the ruling party in the national capital had decided that only Atishi would be sworn in, however, it was later said that her council of ministers would also take the oath.

The oath ceremony of the new chief minister is likely to be held at the Raj Niwas. It is expected to be a "low-key affair" given the circumstances of Kejriwal's resignation.

Ahlawat who belongs from dalit community, is a first-time MLA has been inducted to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Social Welfare Minister Raaj Kumar Anand. Anand resigned from the Kejriwal government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in April, subsequently joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Ahalawat is currently the co-incharge of the party's Rajasthan unit.

 In the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, he led AAP to victory in the Sultanpur Majra constituency by defeating BJP's Ram Chander Chawriya with a margin of 48,042 votes. Ahlawat is known to be an important Dalit face of AAP from North West Delhi. Notably, Ahlawat’s name was in discussion during the Lok Sabha elections as AAP’s candidate from North West Delhi seat, however, due to the alliance seat-sharing formula, the seat went to Congress.

 By profession, Ahalawat identifies himself as a businessman. Born on November 9, 1975, Ahalawat completed his education up to class 12 from Ravindra Public School, CBSE, in 1994.

 Before joining AAP, he contested the 2013 elections from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but lost to Congress' Jai Kishan. Sultanpur Majra, a suburban assembly seat, falls under the North West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.

Atishi and Bharadwaj were inducted into the Kejriwal Cabinet after the AAP national convenor's trusted lieutenants Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain resigned in February last year.Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister earlier this week, after which Atishi, chosen by AAP as his successor, staked claim to form a new government.

Managing 14 portfolios such as finance, education, and revenue, Atishi played a crucial role during Arvind Kejriwal’s imprisonment. Atishi will become the third woman to serve as Delhi's chief minister following Congress's Sheila Dikshit and BJP's Sushma Swaraj. She will lead the government until the next assembly.

Atishi's elevation to the top post comes at a crucial juncture for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is looking to return to power in the Delhi Assembly polls early next year as well as for the government, which will have to fast-track pending policies and schemes for public welfare. The senior leader will have her task cut out after assuming office and will be running against time to ensure implementation of schemes like Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 and doorstep delivery of services among others. However, Atishi is not new to rising to such situations. Her induction into the cabinet also happened when the government was going through testing times following the arrest of deputy chief minister and the then Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's trusted lieutenant, Manish Sisodia last year in excise policy case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Rai is in charge of environment, development and general administration, is a longtime associate of party convener Arvind Kejriwal and a founding member of the AAP while Bharadwaj helms the health, tourism and urban development departments among others.

Gahlot holds the portfolios of transport, home and women and child development, is part of the outgoing cabinet led by Arvind Kejriwal, enjoys the trust of the AAP supremo and was one of the contenders for the chief minister's post along with Atishi.The 50-year-old MLA comes from a rural background and is a prominent Jat leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who twice won from the Najafgarh constituency in 2015 and 2020 while Hussain is the minister for food and supplies.