Thousands gathered at the historic Ramlila Maidan here on Saturday to witness the swearing-in of Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, the new Chief Minister of Delhi.
Reiterating that his Government is not taking oath to assume power but to serve the people, Kejriwal urged other parties in the Delhi Assembly to work together with his team and set aside their political opposition.
Manish Sisodia, Girish Soni, Rakhi Birla, Satyendra Jain, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Somnath Bharti also took oath along with him. A meeting of the Cabinet, which was held soon after the swearing-in ceremony, decided the portfolio of the Ministers.
Kejriwal will take charge of Home, Finance, Vigilance, Power, Planning and Services departments. Power price in the State was a major political issue raised by the AAP during the elections. The party has promised that charges will be reduced by 50 per cent immediately.
His first lieutenant Manish Sisodia will be the new Education Minister. He will also keep the PWD, Urban Development, Local Bodies and Land and Building departments.
An IIT graduate, Somnath Bharti , was given the charge of Administrative Reforms, Law, Tourism and Culture.
Rakhi Birla , the lone woman in the seven-member Cabinet, got Social Welfare and Women and Child Development departments.
Girish Soni , a along-time associate of Kejriwal, will handle Labour and SC, ST departments and Satyendra Jain will have Health and Industries departments.
Primary healthcare facilities
AAP has promised to improve the primary healthcare facilities in the city State. Saurabh Bhardwaj was given the charge of Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Environment. He will have to soon take a decision on increasing the auto fares in the State as the Centre has hiked the CNG prices recently.
Thunderous applauses
Emotions run high as every word of Kejriwal was welcomed with thunderous applauses by the enthusiastic crowd.
“The whole fight is not to make Arvind Kejriwal a Chief Minister but it is for a change of governance in Delhi,” Kejriwal said in a brief speech.
Action against corrupt public servants
He promised that action will be taken against corrupt public servants. “I don’t claim to have a magic wand or remedies for all the ills but if the 1.5 crore people of Delhi join him, there is no reason why all the problems can’t be solved,” the Chief Minister said.
'No arrogance'
He said that he and his team will show no arrogance and will work for the people with service as the goal.
Kejriwal said that AAP is not born to come to power but to remove the arrogance of other parties. Asking his party men to serve the people, he said people should not have to think of another party to correct AAP in the future.
Vote of confidence
He added that he does not mind about the result of the vote of confidence scheduled for next week. He said even if his party does not manage majority, people will vote it back to power with a thumping majority.
People, who participated in the function, hoped that Kejriwal will work to fulfil their aspirations.
Aam Aadmi Party's ideals
“He has given a clear message. Implementation of AAP’s ideals is now just a matter of time. He has silently worked so far for the benefit of people and we hope that he will continue to do so and bring changes in Delhi,” said Sanjay Kumar, who has come from Dwaraka to attend the function.
Swati, a housewife from Model Town, said she was attracted by the AAP’s ideals after it took an initiative to hold protests on the increasing violence against women. “I hope that public transport will be more secured in Delhi now,” she said.
A Delhi Government servant, who wanted anonymity, said things in Delhi will change on its own now.
“80 per cent of the public servants are good. Now they will be empowered as our Chief Minister is an honest man. We are sure that good officers will get more authority in decision-making. There will be pressure on the 20 per cent corrupt officers to change. At least 15 per cent of them will change on their own now. Five per cent will remain unchanged, but they will be in no position to influence the system,” the senior officer said.
Lok Sabha elections
There were slogans that the next aim of AAP is the Prime Minister's chair and Kejriwal will be able to reach that position in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, Kejriwal took the Delhi Metro from his house at Kausambi to reach the venue. Kejriwal said that all his party’s promises will be implemented in a time-bound manner.