CM Kejriwal triggers row as he leaves Delhi assembly within minutes of taking oath

Delhi chief minister stoked yet another controversy when he and PWD minister Manish Sisodia left within two minutes of taking oath on his first day in the assembly.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal stoked yet another controversy when he and his close aide PWD minister Manish Sisodia left the Assembly within two minutes of taking oath.

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BJP leader Sahib Singh Chauhan said it was the chief minister’s first day in assembly and he should have sat through the programme when his colleagues were taking oath of office.

"The agenda of the programme is distributed a day earlier. He should not have kept any meeting during that time," Chauhan said. Kejrwal reached the house a couple of minutes after pro-tem Speaker reached and left almost immediately after taking oath.

Sixty-seven MLAs including Kejriwal, his council of ministers and BJP leader Harsha Vardhan were administered oath by pro-tem speaker Mateen Ahmed.

"Congress MLA Jai Kishan and AAP MLA Dinesh Mohania could not reach the Vihdan Sabha on time. They will be administered the oath on Thursday," Ahmed said.

Excitement was visible on the faces of the AAP MLAs as well the newly-elected MLAs of the Congress and the BJP. While the AAP MLAs remained quiet when their colleagues took oath, the BJP MLAs thumped tables to congratulate and welcome their colleagues who rose to take oath. The AAP MLAs, on the other hand, congratulated and shook hands with each other after the oath taking ceremony.

Day 2 of the assembly will be crucial for the ruling AAP as it will seek the vote of trust. If the government survives, day 3 will witness the election of speaker and deputy speaker. While AAP has chosen MS Dhir as its candidate for the speaker’s post, the BJP may field five-term MLA Jagdish Mukhi.

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