Atishi - new CM of Delhi; touches feet of Arvind Kejriwal after oath

Delhi gets its new Chief Minister in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, who took oath of the office at Raj Niwas, the office of lieutenant governor in civil lines area of the national capital.

Atishi, who is now the 8th Chief Minister of Delhi, touched the feet of Arvind Kejriwal, seeking his blessings, right after she was sowrn-in.
She replaced Kejriwal, who resigned from the post earlier this week after being released on bail in the liquor policy case.

Lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena administered her the oath of office along with five cabinet ministers – Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Imran Hussain and Mukesh Ahlawat, who is the new face in her cabinet.

Atishi chose Hindi as the language for the oath-taking process and went by her first name, without mentioning any surname.

Atishi, who held 13 portfolios, including finance, revenue, PWD, power and education in the outgoing Kejriwal government, emerged as a key face of the party while Kejriwal was in jail in connection with the excise policy case.

Atishi, who studied at Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s college and Oxford in London, has become the 17th woman to hold the post of chief minister in India and Delhi’s third woman CM.

At 43, the first-time MLA from Kalkaji, is also Delhi’s youngest woman to hold the post.

Kejriwal, who came out of Tihar Jail on September 13, after spending over five months, announced his resignation, saying that he would return to the post only after people declare him an honest man by reposing their faith in AAP.

Subsequently, Atishi was elected as the new Chief Minister, a proposal put forward by Kejriwal.

Her tenure as CM will be brief as the assembly polls in Delhi are due in February next year.