AAP's Atishi takes oath as Delhi's Chief Minister, 5 leaders join her Cabinet

Atishi succeeded Arvind Kejriwal who resigned earlier this week as Delhi Chief Minister after being released on bail in a liquor policy case.

In Short

• Five ministers also took oath with Chief Minister Atishi
• Atishi succeeded Arvind Kejriwal, who resigned this week
• Atishi to have a brief tenure as Chief Minister until Assembly polls

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi was sworn in as the 8th Chief Minister of Delhi on Saturday at Raj Niwas. She succeeded Arvind Kejriwal, who resigned from the post earlier this week after being released on bail in the liquor policy case.

Five cabinet ministers -- four from the previous ministry and a new face -- were also sworn in along with her.

Atishi’s new council of ministers include:

• Gopal Rai
• Kailash Gahlot
• Saurabh Bharadwaj
• Imran Hussain
• Mukesh Ahlawat, a new entrant

The Oxford-educated AAP leader, Atishi, emerged as a key face of the party and the previous government when Arvind Kejriwal was in Tihar jail in connection with the excise policy case.

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

In the previous government, Atishi held 13 portfolios, including finance, revenue, PWD, power, and education in the outgoing Kejriwal government.

Gopal Rai oversaw the environment, development, and general administration departments. Saurabh Bharadwaj handled health, tourism, urban development, and other portfolios. Kailash Gahlot was responsible for transport, home, and women and child development, while Imran Hussain managed the food and supplies department.

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

Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on September 13, after spending more than five months behind bars in an excise policy case. In a surprise announcement on September 17, he announced his resignation, saying that he would return to the post only after getting a "certificate of honesty" from people in the assembly polls.

The AAP's legislative party subsequently elected Atishi as the new Chief Minister, a proposal put forward by Kejriwal.

The tenure of the Atishi government will be brief, as the assembly polls in Delhi are due in February next year.

Under Atishi's leadership, the AAP is aiming to carry the 'pending works forward' until the assembly elections. Atishi herself and senior party leaders have made it clear that the party's focus now is to ensure Kejriwal returns to power with a larger mandate in the next assembly elections.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders slammed Atishi, saying that she was part of the 'corrupt' Arvind Kejriwal government. They also alleged that the new Chief Minister "will function like a rubber stamp", as Kejriwal continues as the de facto power centre.