Arvind Kejriwal was on Sunday took oath as Delhi’s chief minister for a record third time, with nearly 50,000 people in attendance at Ramlila Maidan to witness his swearing-in.
Kejriwal was sworn-in by Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal along with six of his legislator colleagues, who have been retained as cabinet ministers- Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Gautam.
Kejriwal is believed to have decided to retain the same cabinet as during his second term in power in a meeting at his residence on Saturday.
“Hosted my Delhi Cabinet designate colleagues for dinner at my residence. Congratulated them on their victory in the election and wished them success for their terms as Ministers in the Delhi govt (sic),” the Delhi CM tweeted yesterday.
The CM had extended an open invitation to Delhi’s two crore residents to be part of his swearing-in ceremony, a call seconded on the eve of his oath-taking ceremony by his deputy and Delhi’s education minister Manish Sisodia.
A special bond with Ramlila Maidan
Interestingly, this is the third time that Kejriwal’s swearing-in was organised at the historic Ramlila Maidan, a ground in central Delhi that has been witness to events that have shaped the course of Indian history. Kejriwal himself was part of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement in 2011-12, which propelled him to the centre of Delhi’s politics.
Kejriwal’s first term as CM in 2013 was cut short after he abruptly terminated his government, which had outside support from Congress, after his inability to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed in the assembly.
The 51-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) trounced back to power in 2015, winning 67 seats in the 70-member assembly, on the poll planks of cheap electricity and water, better healthcare and educations.
In the most recently concluded elections, AAP all but managed to repeat its previous election’s thumping performance, winning 62 seats in the Delhi legislative assembly.
