Atishi, Cabinet ministers to take oath on Saturday: AAP | Latest News Delhi

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi will on Saturday take oath as the Delhi chief minister along with her Cabinet ministers, the ruling party announced on Thursday.

The party is likely to announce the list of ministers on Thursday. A major reshuffle was expected. Atishi handled finance, the public works department, education, power, women and child development, etc in Arvind Kejriwal’s ministry. Kejriwal did not have any portfolio.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai, and Imraan Hussain are likely to be retained in the new Cabinet. There was a vacancy in the previous Cabinet following the resignation of Raaj Kumar Anand in May. The Delhi assembly has 70 members and the Cabinet can have a maximum of seven ministers, including the chief minister.

AAP leaders said the Atishi-led Cabinet is likely to have full strength. The new Cabinet is likely to have two new members, including one from the Dalit community.

The previous Cabinet will be dissolved as soon as Kejriwal’s resignation is accepted. The President appoints the Delhi chief minister under the Constitution’s Article 239AA (5). The ministers are appointed on the chief minister’s advice.

Lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Wednesday sent the file on the appointment of the chief minister to the President for approval, proposing Saturday for the swearing-in ceremony. AAP chief Kejriwal resigned as the chief minister after Atishi was nominated as his successor.