Kejriwal to take oath with 6 ministers: PM Modi invited for swearing-in-ceremony

New Delhi, Feb 15: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday appointed Arvind Kejriwal as the new chief minister of Delhi after his Aam Aadmi Party bagged 62 of the 70 seats in the recent Delhi Assembly elections.

According to an official notification, the president has also appointed six MLAs as ministers of the Delhi Government following the advice of the chief minister.

The six ministers who will take oath along with Kejriwal on February 16 are: Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Gautam.

"The President has been pleased to appoint Shri Arvind Kejriwal to be the Chief Minister, National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date he is sworn in," the notification said.

A separate notification said the president has also accepted the resignation of Kejriwal as chief minister of the NCT of Delhi along with his council of ministers with immediate effect.

He will, however, continue to act as the chief minister till the new chief minister is sworn in, it said.

In the Delhi polls, the AAP recorded a massive victory winning 62 of the 70 seats while the BJP bagged the remaining eight seats. The Congress drew a blank for the second consecutive time.

PM Modi invited for the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday

Kejriwal has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his swearing-in ceremony scheduled to take place at the Ramlila Maidan on February 16, senior party leader Gopal Rai said.
Rai, the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi unit, said a letter was sent to the prime minister on Friday morning.

All seven Delhi MPs and eight newly elected BJP MLAs have also been invited for the oath-taking ceremony, Rai told PTI.

No chief minister or political leaders from other states will be part of the event as it will be a "Delhi-specific" ceremony, Rai had said on Thursday.

Kejriwal, through front-page advertisements in newspapers, has urged Delhiites to attend his oath-taking ceremony as he is set to become the chief minister of Delhi for the third consecutive term.

Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi chief minister along with his cabinet at Ramlila Maidan at 10 am on Sunday.

DoE circular asks principals, teachers of Delhi govt schools to attend

Delhi's Directorate of Education (DoE) has issued a circular to its officials and teachers and principals of Delhi Government schools to attend the swearing-in-ceremony of the chief minister and his council of ministers.

The circular also says attendance will be compiled at the entry gates of the Ramlila Maidan, where CM-designate Arvind Kejriwal and his council of ministers will take oath on February 16.

In a tweet, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, "The Aam Aadmi Party, which has won elections by making announcement of freebies, has enough MLAs but not public support."

"With the fear of people not attending the swearing-in ceremony, the government has issued a diktat to 30,000 teachers to mandatorily attend," he added.

Delhi Congress's chief spokesperson Mukesh Sharma took to Twitter to say, "A government order has been issued asking government school teachers to reach at the Arvind Kejriwal government's oath-taking ceremony. It is clear that power is being 'misused' to gather a crowd for the swearing-in ceremony."

Sharma urged Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to take cognisance of it, saying it was a matter of enquiry.

Responding to the allegations, a senior DoE official said, "The circular should be taken on face value. They have been invited as an honour to their contribution to the education model of the AAP government."

The official, however, did not comment on whether it was mandatory for the invitees to attend the event or not