Kejriwal to be sworn in as Delhi CM on December 28

IANS/New Delhi

The 45-year-old activist-turned-politician will take oath along with six other AAP legislators at a ceremony at 12 noon at the sprawling Ramlila Maidan, expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people.

The AAP’s proposed ministers are Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Somnath Bharti, Rakhi Birla, Satyendra Jain and Girish Soni.

Making the announcement, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said: “We have requested the Lt Governor (Najeeb Jung) that we want to take oath on December 28, and he has agreed.”

The decision to opt for December 28, instead of today as expected earlier, was taken at a meeting of party leaders at Kejriwal’s house near Delhi.

Vishwas said the AAP had invited social activist and Kejriwal’s former mentor Anna Hazare, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde and former police officer Kiran Bedi for the swearing in.

The Ramlila Maidan was where Hazare undertook a 12-day anti-corruption fast in 2011 with Kejriwal as one of his aides, triggering mass solidarity protests across India.

Hegde and Bedi were part of that campaign. Kejriwal, who formed the AAP in November last year, has since had a fallout with Hazare and Bedi.

Earlier, Kejriwal denied there was any rift within the AAP over the proposed cabinet.

Two-time municipal councillor Vinod Kumar Binny had walked out of a party meeting on Tuesday where the decision on cabinet ministers was taken and his name was not included.

This triggered intense speculation overnight that he was upset and may revolt.

Kejriwal said: “Binny met me in the evening and informed me that he did not want any post. He told the same thing to the media.”

Binny, who defeated Delhi health minister A K Walia, also said he was not upset on being denied a cabinet berth.

“I am not upset and I have not given any statement... We are a truly democratic party. If I was indeed upset I would have said so,” Binny said.

Magsaysay award winner Kejriwal defeated three-time chief minister Shiela Dikshit, who had governed Delhi for 15 years, in the New Delhi constituency by over 25,000 votes.

In the elections, the AAP got 28 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly, stunning friends and foes. The Congress was routed, winning only eight seats. The BJP finished with the maximum of 31 seats but did not form a government saying it lacked the numbers to govern.

Kejriwal staked claim to form the government on Monday after a five-day referendum where people voted ‘yes’ or ‘no’ over taking outside support from the Congress.

Although the Congress extended outside support to the AAP, divisions emerged within. Many activists protested against the decision and burnt an effigy of Kejriwal outside the Congress office.

Born in Haryana and now residing at Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh adjoining Delhi, Kejriwal is a graduate in mechanical engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technolgy –Kharagpur.