KEJRIWAL & his ministerial colleagues assume charge

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Monday, February 17 took charge as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third successive term after emphatically winning assembly elections. He along six ministers of his previous government   were sworn in by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal the previous day at the historic Ram Lila ground in the presence of over 50,00 Delhiites and his parents, wife and children. Manish Sisodia, who is among the co-founders of AAP and played a pioneering role in remodelling government schools, Satyendra Jain, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Imran Hussain, Kailash Gehlot and Gopal Rai have been retained as ministers by CM Kejriwal. As per the constitutional norms, the maximum size of the Delhi Cabinet has been fixed at seven members.. Soon after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time, Kejriwal, anti – corruption crusader turned politician , sought blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed his desire to work together with the Centre for the development of the Union Territory .PM Modi however could not accept his invite to be present at his swearing in ceremony as he had scheduled programs at Varanasi, his Lok Sabha Constituency. Kejriwal said as the election was over, politics was also over and he has “forgiven” his opponents for the remarks made during the campaign. The historic Ramlila Maidan was also venue for the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement. It is the same venue where socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan had addressed a massive gathering during the “Total Revolution” movement in the 1970s. Kejriwal is the first and only Delhi CM who opted for Ramlila Maidan as the venue for his oath ceremonies. All his predecessors had taken the oath at Raj Niwas. Kejriwal said Delhiites had given birth to a new kind of politics in the country focusing on schools, hospitals, electricity, water, good roads and women’s security. “In the last five years, I have worked for everyone. I have never worked with bias. The entire two-crore Delhiites are part of my family. Never hesitate to approach me, I will work for everyone. We still have a lot to achieve here. I want to work with everyone together. “After being sworn in along with six Cabinet colleagues — Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, Gopal Rai, Rajendra Gautam, Imran Hussain and Kailash Gahlot — Kejriwal began his address with “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Inquilab Zindabad” and “Vande Mataram”, and ended it by singing “Hum Honge Kamyaab” (We shall overcome), in which he was joined by thousands, waving the tricolour, banners and wielding jhadus (brooms), his party’s symbol.(with PTI inputs)