The Aam Aadmi Party has announced its leader, Atishi Marlena, to take the oath as the new Chief Minister of Delhi on Saturday, September 21, 2024. The decision comes out after the resignation of former Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, following the days of his bail from the Delhi Liquor case.

He gave his resignation from the position on Tuesday, stating it as his “Agnipariksha.”

Atishi to take oath alongside 5 Cabinet Ministers

However, initially, the party decided that only Atishi Marlena, the new CM, would take the oath; later, it was determined that the council of ministers would also take the oath alongside her.

Atishi will now take an oath with five cabinet ministers from the previous government who will retain their positions. These Cabinet Ministers include Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Imran Hussain with Manish Ahlawat.

Who is Manish Ahlawat, new entrant to join Cabinet?

Manish Ahlawat, the MLA of Sultanpur Majra, is the new face to join the cabinet. Belonging to the Dalit community, Ahlawat will be serving as the new minister; however, his handling office has not been announced yet.

While one ministerial position will remain empty or vacant in the cabinet.

About the Oath-Taking Ceremony

Notably, the oath ceremony is likely to be conducted at Raj Niwas and is expected to be a low-key affair. It happened in the wake of the former CM’s resignation.

The new CM, Atishi herself, said that it was an extremely sad moment and asked the party leaders not to congratulate her over her appointment. September 21, the date of the oath-taking ceremony, was officially proposed by the President of India, Draupadi Murmu.

While the sources also said that Kejriwal’s resignation has already been moved to President Murmu.

Atishi expresses mixed feelings

“First of all, I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, AAP National Convener, and my mentor, Arvind Kejriwal. He gave me such a huge responsibility and trusted me for that. This can be done only in AAP, only under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that a first-time politician becomes CM of the state. I come from an ordinary family. Had I been in any other party, perhaps I would not have been given even an election ticket,” she said.

Atishi Marlena, the third Woman Chief Minister of Delhi

Additionally, it is to be noted that Atishi will be the third woman chief minister of Delhi to hold the office at the age of 43, following Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit.

She is a prominent leader from AAP and has played several crucial roles in improvising education in Delhi’s government-run schools and other educational reforms and initiatives during her time as an advisor to the former education minister, Manish Sisodia.

Atishi represents the Kalkaji constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. She holds the most portfolios in the Delhi Assembly.

She joined the Delhi Cabinet in March 2023 in the face of difficulties faced by AAP during the arrest of former Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia, who was arrested on February 26, 2023. He was accused of irregularities of Delhi’s liquor case.

His arrest was made following hours of questioning during the CBI claims that he was being uncooperative and provided evasive answers. While the Aam Aadmi Party denied all the accusations, calling it a politically motivated target on their party.

However, the party is now all set to lead the Aam Aadmi Party as it is gearing up for the upcoming assembly polls.