The Delhi minister who took oath in the name of freedom fighters

Arvind Kejriwal was sworn in as Delhi’s chief minister for the third term on Sunday. He was joined by six AAP MLAs who took oath as ministers.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s cabinet member Gopal Rai on Sunday departed from tradition when he took oath of office in the name of freedom fighters instead of ‘God’s name’.

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai is among the six party MLAs who were sworn-in as a minister of Arvind Kejriwal cabinet, at Ramlila Maidan, in New Delhi, on Sunday, February 16, 2020. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

He was among the six party MLAs who were sworn-in as ministers of Kejriwal cabinet by Delhi L-G Anil Baijal after the AAP convener took oath as Delhi’s chief minister for the third time at the ceremony in the national capital’s Ramlila Ground. All six were ministers in the previous government as well.

Rai was the labour minister in the previous Delhi government. He also held charge of the Rural Development department apart from holding the charge for General Administration Department, Irrigation & Flood Control and Labour. Rai is also the convener of the Delhi state unit of the Aam Aadmi Party.

Gautam, the social welfare minister in the previous cabinet, took oath in the name of Lord Buddha while Imran Hussain took oath of office in the name of Allah and later oath of secrecy in the name of God (Ishwar), reports news agency PTI.

After the swearing-in ceremony, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “blessings” to be “able to work for Delhi’s welfare”. He said he wanted to work in coordination with the BJP-led central government to make the national capital the number one city.

The Aam Aadmi Party swept back to power in the February 8 assembly election, winning 62 seats in the 70-member House. The BJP was the distant second with only eight seats while the Congress drew a blank for the second consecutive time.

(With inputs from PTI)