Atishi to be Delhi’s new education ministry, Saurabh gets health dept
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were on Thursday inducted into the Delhi cabinet, with the two senior leaders set to head crucial ministries and slot into the positions vacated by incarcerated senior ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both of whom resigned from their positions in the council of ministers last week
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were on Thursday inducted into the Delhi cabinet, with the two senior leaders set to head crucial ministries and slot into the positions vacated by incarcerated senior ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both of whom resigned from their positions in the council of ministers last week.
Atishi, the MLA from Kalkaji, will head six departments, including the key education and public works ministries, said a Delhi government official aware of the matter. Bharadwaj, her counterpart from Greater Kailash, will run seven departments, including health and water, said the official, citing a Delhi governmentproposal.
Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy to the two leaders at Raj Niwas during a ceremony attended by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, state ministers, and the Bhartiya Janata Party’s leader in the state assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, among others.
Kejriwal congratulated the two ministers, during an interaction with the media on Thursday.
Later, in a tweet, Kejriwal said people have high expectations of the new ministers.
“You both have to take forward the good work of Manish ji and Satyendra ji. People have high expectations from both of you,” he tweeted.
To be sure, a notification ratifying the changes in allocation in the state cabinet has not yet been issued, and is likely to be released later this week.
The elevation of Atishi and Bharadwaj comes amid a challenging period for the elected AAP government and heightened tensions between it and the centrally appointed LG over control of the national capital. Saxena and the AAP have been engaged in pitched battles over key programmes and initiatives in the Capital. Further, an unresolved impasse in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi over the election of six standing committee members has impaired the city’s civic administration.
Atishi (41) and Bharadwaj (43) were inducted into the cabinet eight days after the resignations of former deputy chief minister Sisodia and Jain, both of whom have been arrested and imprisoned over their alleged roles in separate cases.
Sisodia, who held key portfolios, including finance, education, health and public works, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 over alleged irregularities during the formulation and implementation of Delhi’s 2021-22 excise policy.
He was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), as part of their investigation into the excise case, on Thursday evening.
Jain, who was Delhi’s health and public works minister, was arrested by ED on May 30 last year, with the agency citing money laundering allegations. The two departments were later handed to Sisodia, while Jain remained a minister without a portfolio.
Atishi and Bharadwaj will also be expected to wrap up several pending projects across the Capital, especially in the run-up to next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Atishi, a Rhodes scholar, has been associated with the AAP government’s education reforms and worked closely with Sisodia during his stint as education minister. A first-time MLA and member of the AAP’s political affairs committee, she unsuccessfully contested the 2019 general elections from East Delhi. She also has a Master’s degree from the University of Oxford.
On Thursday, she said that their appointments were part of an interim arrangement, till Sisodia and Jain are released from prison.
“Till they return from jail in the fake cases, we will handle these departments, and we will not let the work of the people suffer. After they come out of jail, they (Sisodia and Jain) will handle the education and health departments (respectively). We hope that they will be released from jail very soon,” she said.
Bharadwaj concurred.
“After Lord Ram went on exile for 14 years, his younger brother Bharat handled his responsibilities. Similarly, we will handle their (Jain and Sisodia’s) responsibilities. When they return, they will take back their responsibilities,” said the three-time Greater Kailash legislator.
He added that the AAP government’s flagship programmes in the health, education and water sections will be sped up.
“The Centre will try to stop our work, but people understand when we do good work despite obstacles,” he told reporters after the oath event.
Bharadwaj, the Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman, also served as a minister in AAP’s brief stint in the government in 2013. He is also the AAP’s chief spokesperson.
The new ministers are likely to take charge of their departments on Friday, by which time their appointments are likely to be notified by the state’s General Administration Department.
The Delhi cabinet now has seven ministers, including Kejriwal, who does not handle any portfolios. The other ministers are Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Imran Hussain and Raaj Kumar Anand.
Earlier this month, Sisodia’s 18 ministries were split between Gahlot and Anand. Of those 18 departments, 13 have now been distributed among Bharadwaj and Atishi.
Gahlot, who is currently in charge of the finance ministry, will present the state budget in the Delhi assembly on March 21, said officials aware of the matter.
