delhi

Updated: Feb 17, 2020 06:30 IST

The key portfolios of the ministers in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, including that of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, may remain the same as the previous term, several senior AAP functionaries said hours after all seven took oaths of office and secrecy at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday.

Though the departments that will come directly under the CM and his unchanged cabinet ministers have not been officially announced yet, they are likely to begin work in the Delhi Secretariat from Monday, bringing back to life the seat of power that has been dormant for more than a month because the seven ministers of the state government were heavily invested in their poll campaigns and the model code of conduct—a set of rules imposed before elections to ensure any big-ticket policy decisions are not taken once polls are announced—was in place.

According to two senior government officials, a cabinet meeting will be held sometime over the next two days, and changes in portfolio, if any, will be decided at that meeting. The state cabinet will also finalise the dates for the first assembly session of the new government. “The same ministers have been repeated to ensure continuity of works done over the past five years. So, it is highly unlikely that there would be any major reshuffle in the portfolios of the ministers,” said one of the senior AAP leaders cited above, on condition of anonymity.

This means CM Kejriwal, 51, is likely to keep the water portfolio; Manish Sisodia, 48, who is going to remain Delhi’s deputy chief minister, is likely to retain the education and finance portfolios; Satyendar Jain, 55, may head the Public Works Department, health and power; Kailash Gahlot, 45, may continue as the transport and environment minister; Rajendra Pal Gautam, 51, is likely to retain the social welfare ministry; Imran Hussain, 38, may continue as the food and civil supplies minister; and the labour department may stay with Gopal Rai, 44.

According to officials in Kejriwal’s office, the newly elected chief minister and his cabinet are expected to reach the secretariat at around 11am on Monday to take charge. Gautam, however, took charge of his office in the social welfare ministry just a few hours after the ceremony on Sunday. “The portfolios may not have been announced yet, but that does not stop us from working. My target is to first finish all the pending works. The first will be opening an old age home in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar,” he said.

Only seven ministers, including the chief minister, can be appointed in Delhi as per stipulations that restrict the size of the Cabinet to 10% of the size of the assembly.

Decongestion, waterfront

After chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s speech about greater cooperation with the BJP-ruled Centre during his oath-taking ceremony, the AAP government is likely to seek the Delhi traffic police’s help in working on decongesting the city, apart from writing to the Union government to discuss a plan to redevelop the Yamuna riverfront.

During his speech at Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, Kejriwal said: “The next few years will witness better cooperation with the Centre… We had invited the Prime Minister but he could not be here... So, from this stage today, I seek his blessings and that of the central government for working towards the development and welfare of Delhi.”

While discussing the agenda for the next three months with his Cabinet colleagues on Saturday, Kejriwal said that implementing the promises in the 10-point guarantee card, released by AAP during the campaigning, will be his government’s top priority. The key promises include providing clean drinking tap water 24x7, offering free bus rides to students, and appointing mohalla marshals in neighbourhoods.

The AAP won 62 seats out of 70 in the Delhi Assembly elections, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got eight seats. The Congress drew a blank for the second time in a row.

Different oaths

The choice of who the ministers took oath on also revealed facets of their personality and faith. Rai took oath in the name of the martyrs of India’s freedom struggle; Gautam in the name of Lord Buddha; while Hussain took the oath of office in the name of Allah and later the oath of secrecy in the name of Ishwar. Kejriwal, Sisodia, Jain and Gahlot took oaths in the name of Ishwar (god).

While most supporters on Sunday came to Ramlila Maidan primarily to witness Kejriwal’s swearing-in, Archana Tyagi (35), private school teacher and a resident of Sarita Vihar, said she came to the event with the expectation of seeing a woman minister being inducted into the cabinet.

“I hope Kejriwal sees my banner and inducts a woman minister in his Cabinet,” she said while holding a placard which read “Why no woman on stage?”

Since 1993, there have been only four female cabinet ministers in the Delhi government— BJP’s Purnima Sethi (1998), the Congress’ Krishna Tirath (1998-2001) and Kiran Walia (2008-13), and AAP’s Rakhi Birla (2013-14).

A senior AAP functionary said the focus for the moment was on continuity but added that the party was open to more diverse representation going forward.