Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 1: Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi, the two senior Delhi legislators and prominent leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), are expected to be inducted in the Arvind Kejriwal cabinet to replace the two arrested ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyender Jain.
Kejriwal on Wednesday sent the names of Atishi and Bhardwaj to the Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena for appointing them as Cabinet Ministers. This comes a day after Sisodia, the deputy chief minister, and Jain, the former health minister resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday following their arrests by the CBI in two different cases. The Delhi L-G has recommended to the President of India that the resignations of Sisodia and Jain may be accepted, officials at Raj Niwas said on Wednesday.
Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand, who was given the additional charge of education and health departments following the resignation of Sisodia, said the objective of his party to provide good education and health facilities to people of the city would remain unchanged. He told the media after taking charge that he had asked all the departments allotted to him to prepare PPTs of the work done by them.
“Just because there is a new face, the party’s objectives will not change. We want to provide the best education to our children and top-notch healthcare facilities to citizens. I will work in the same direction,” Mr. Anand said.
The Delhi Social Welfare Minister also said he would be meeting the Chief Minister later in the day and would take charge in accordance with ‘‘what the Chief Minister says.” Mr. Anand has been given the charge of education, land, and building, vigilance, services, tourism, art culture and language, labour, employment, health and industries in addition to his existing portfolios. Talking about his new role, he said, “I have asked the departments to prepare PPTs of work done by them so far and future projects to get understanding.”
In a significant turn of events, Sisodia and Jain had on Tuesday resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led cabinet amidst BJP’s persistent onslaught against the AAP over the corruption charges against its leaders. Mr. Sisodia’s 18 portfolios have been distributed between Kailash Gahlot and Anand till the appointment of new Ministers.
Kejriwal has called a meeting of AAP MLAs and councillors on Wednesday evening during which the party is expected to discuss ministerial berths and other key challenges it is facing now.
Mr Bhardwaj represents the south Delhi’s Greater Kailash constituency and is also the chief spokesperson of the AAP. He is also vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board, the agency responsible for supplying water to the national capital. He was a cabinet minister in the AAP government during the 49-day tenure in 2013-14 after which Mr Kejriwal had stepped down, taking responsibility for the failure to bring the anti-corruption Jan Lokpal Bill.
Ms Atishi is MLA from Kalkaji is a member of the AAP’s political affairs committee. She has served as an advisor to Mr Sisodia, primarily on education, between 2015 and 2017. A Rhodes scholar, she has risen as a prominent face of the party over the past few years.
The AAP MP Sanjay Singh said Chief Minister Kejriwal had chosen Mr Bhardwaj and Ms Atishi for the top jobs. “Both of them are eligible and capable of doing the job well.” “This is challenging time for us. Our two honest, truthful ministers who gave Delhi its health and education models are in jail,” he added, stressing that work for the welfare Delhi would not be derailed.