AAP MLAs Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj take oath as Delhi ministers

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were sworn in as Ministers in the Delhi cabinet on Thursday. The ceremony was held in the Auditorium of Raj Niwas in Delhi. The newly inducted ministers were sworn in by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. “In accordance with the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bharadwaj have been appointed as Ministers in the National Capital Territory of Delhi,” read an official statement from the General Administration Department. This comes after President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignations of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Minister Satyendar Jain, who are both currently imprisoned in Tihar for their roles in the Delhi excise policy case.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, President Murmu appointed Atishi and Bharadwaj as ministers in the Delhi cabinet on the advice of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, with effect from the date they are sworn in. Kejriwal had forwarded the names to the Lieutenant Governor for consideration as Cabinet members. Atishi is a Kalkaji constituency representative and a member of Sisodia’s education team.

She also contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from East Delhi, but lost to BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir. Bharadwaj, the party’s national spokesperson, previously served as vice chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. During the first term of the AAP government, the legislator from Greater Kailash also served as a minister. The Delhi council of ministers now has five members, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who does not hold any portfolios.

Following his arrest in the alleged excise policy scam, Sisodia resigned from all 18 of his positions. Following the arrest of former Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain last year, seven of his portfolios were transferred to Sisodia, who was in charge of 18 departments at the time of his arrest.