The 19-day wait for a government in Delhi will finally get over on Saturday. Bureaucrat-turned-activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal of the infant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will be sworn in as the seventh and the youngest Chief Minister of the Capital in a historic public ceremony at Ramlila Maidan.
Never failing to surprise people with the aam aadmi ways, Kejriwal announced on Friday that he, along with his six Cabinet Ministers designate, will board Delhi Metro to reach the venue of swearing-in ceremony.
From 26-year-old Rakhi Birla to 41-year-old Manish Sisodia, the Delhi Cabinet is not just going to be the youngest ever but will also be the first where all its members are debutantes in politics and governance. Somnath Bharti, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Girish Soni and Satyendra Jain are the others who will also be administered the oath of office and secrecy by the l-G.
The 45-year-old Magsaysay award winner, Kejriwal, along with his close aide Manish Sisodia, will board Delhi Metro from Kaushambi station and get down at Barakhamba station from where he will reach Ramlila Maidan in his car. The step, he said, is an effort to put an end to the long prevailing VIP culture in the Capital. Inviting everybody to attend the official event, Kejriwal said, “We are aam aadmi, none of us are VIPs. I, along with the 27 MlAs, will use public transport to reach the venue. My family will also travel in Metro with me.”
Sisodia said, “It is a move to bring an end to VIP culture. This is just the beginning.” The former tax official has promised to disassemble the constituents of Delhi’s VIP culture, including the flashing red lights that give politicians’ cars the screeching right of way on roads.
Once Kejriwal takes the oath, he will visit Rajghat before leaving for his first Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet meeting is scheduled to take place at 2 in the afternoon. “After swearing in as Delhi’s CM, I will go to Rajghat to pay homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. After which I will head for the Cabinet meeting at 2 pm on Saturday,” he informed.
The party had sent invitations to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and Justice Santosh Hegde. On Friday, Kejriwal said that he had spoken to Anna Hazare. “I have spoken to Anna ji and he has said that he will not be able to attend the oath-taking ceremony due to his ill health,” Kejriwal said. Bedi too rejected his invitation on account of prior engagement. “I would not be able to attend as during that time I will be in Bangalore. I have not received the invitation yet,” she said.
The AAP Government, with outside support from the Congress, is likely to have little over two months time to deliver on its immediate priorities as model code of conduct for the lok Sabha polls is set to come into force in March. In the wake of this and having led his party to a phenomenal success in the Assembly poll, Kejriwal will now face the immediate challenge of fulfilling a number of key promises like passage of the Delhi Jan lokpal Bill, cutting power tariff by 50 per cent, and supplying 700 litres of free water to each household in the city.
After witnessing a thumping victory in the elections, pocketing a mammoth 28 seats just to fit in the second place next to the giant BJP’s 31 seats, the AAP had refused to take support from either the Congress or the BJP to form a government, following which both the parties had accused it of shying away from the responsibility fearing that it would not be able to deliver on its promises.
On Monday, the party had staked claim to form a government after results of its ‘referendum’ overwhelmingly favoured it to take the reins
of power.