CM retains his team, 7 take oath as cabinet ministers
NEW DELHI: 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 PWD, 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.