Delhi LG proposes Sept 21 for Atishi’s oath ceremony | Latest News Delhi

Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena has proposed September 21 (Saturday) as the date for administering the oath of office to chief minister-designate Atishi, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday resigned as the Delhi CM and handed the baton to senior party colleague Atishi, who staked claim to head the next state government with just a few months to go for the assembly elections.

In a letter to the LG, Atishi said that the AAP legislative party elected her as their leader, and requested that a date for the oath-taking ceremony be fixed, according to the party functionaries.

Officials aware of the development said that Saxena has sent a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, proposing September 21 as the day for Atishi to take oath.

“The LG has moved the letters to the President/Union home ministry, proposing September 21, 2024 as the date for swearing in Atishi as the CM. No date for swearing-in has been proposed by Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi,” an official said.

The official said that Kejriwal’s resignation has been forwarded to the President for acceptance, but a notification about it was not issued till the time of going to print.

According to the rules, a final notification is issued after Rashtrapati Bhavan accepts the resignation.

When asked if she was ready to take oath on September 21, as proposed by the LG, Atishi said: “We have not received any official information as yet.”

Read more: Atishi may address first house session as Delhi CM on Sept 26-27

On the matter of forming a new Cabinet, Atishi in her letter to the LG, said she will give the names of other ministers who will be sworn in soon.

Under Article 239AA (5) of the Constitution, the President appoints the Delhi chief minister, and state ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the CM. After the President accepts the resignation of a sitting CM, they continue as a caretaker CM unless a new head is appointed if the assembly has not been dissolved.

Elected as an MLA for the first time in 2020, Atishi was appointed as a minister in the Kejriwal Cabinet in March 2023 following the arrest of then deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case. Atishi was soon allocated key portfolios including power, revenue, planning, finance, services, vigilance, water, and public relations.

The Delhi assembly has 70 members, and the cabinet can have a maximum of seven ministers, including the chief minister.

Atishi is set to head the Delhi government for the next few months, which will be politically critical for the AAP as it prepares for the upcoming assembly elections likely to be held early next year, but there was no clarity yet on ministers who will be inducted into the new cabinet.

People aware of the matter indicated that the sitting ministers in the Kejriwal cabinet — Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain — could remain in the Atishi-led council of ministers.

There was one vacancy following the resignation of the then social welfare and SC/ST minister Raaj Kumar Anand in May, and a new one will be created with Atishi’s elevation.

According to AAP leaders aware of the developments, the new cabinet will likely add two new members, including one from the Dalit community.

The political upheaval in the national capital started just days after Kejriwal’s release on bail in the excise policy case.

The CM announced his resignation on Sunday, saying he wanted a certificate of honesty from the people of Delhi in the assembly elections.

“This [excise policy] case will go on for many years. Now I am in the court of people. After two days, I will resign from the post of CM. I will not sit on the CM’s chair unless people deliver their verdict. Your every vote will be my certificate of honesty,” he had said.

Atishi, who was on Tuesday anointed by Kejriwal as his successor until the elections, has said that she will ensure Kejriwal returns to the CM’s post after the polls.

“The people of Delhi, the MLAs of the AAP, and I, being the chief minister (designate), will now work with only one objective till the elections in the next few months take place we have to make Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister of Delhi again,” Atishi said on Tuesday.

“Delhi has only one chief minister — and his name is Arvind Kejriwal.”

Atishi will become the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, and only the second sitting woman chief minister in India alongside Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal.

At the age of 43 years, she will also be youngest chief minister in Delhi ever.