Atishi Marlena And Saurabh Bharadwaj Take Oath As Ministers In Delhi Government

On 9 March, Atishi Marlena and Saurabh Bharadwaj, both AAP MLAs, were sworn in as ministers in the Delhi government by Lt Governor V K Saxena.

This appointment followed the resignations of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and minister Satyendar Jain, who are currently in Tihar jail on corruption and money laundering charges.

Atishi will be responsible for education, PWD, power, and tourism departments while Bharadwaj will oversee health, urban development, water, and industries.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.

Bharadwaj has been an MLA of the AAP since 2013 and was a minister in the Kejriwal government's first brief term in 2013. Currently, he was the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board.

Atishi entered electoral politics in 2019 but has been associated with the party since its inception. She was brought in by Prashant Bhushan, who was later expelled from the party. Atishi had previously served as an advisor to Sisodia when he was the education minister.

Both health and education portfolios in the AAP government hold special importance. The party's plank, other than offering freebies, has been based on improvements in the two sectors due to efforts of the AAP government.

Bringing two national spokesperson as ministers would probably help the party defend its claims in education and health sector. The party has been facing corruption charges in a number of departments including excise and education departments

Both Atishi and Bharadwaj will attend the Delhi Assembly's Budget Session, which begins on March 17, as ministers.

(with inputs from PTI)