Newly inducted Delhi ministers Atishi, Saurabh take charge of ministries today

New Delhi: Newly appointed Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi Marlena on Friday took charge of their respective departments in the Delhi secretariat.
Both were sworn in as Ministers in the Delhi cabinet on Thursday in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena at Raj Niwas. This came after President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday accepted the resignations of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Minister Satyendar Jain, both of whom are currently lodged in Tihar jail.
President Murmu on Tuesday appointed Atishi and Bharadwaj as ministers in the Delhi cabinet on the advice of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, with effect from the date they are sworn in, stated Ministry of Home Affairs.
Kejriwal had forwarded the names to the Lieutenant Governor for their appointment to the Cabinet.
Atishi represents the Kalkaji constituency and has been a key member of Sisodia's education team.
She had also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the East Delhi constituency and lost to BJP's Gautam Gambhir.
Bharadwaj, the party's national spokesperson, had served the Delhi Jal Board as its vice chairman. The legislator from Greater Kailash was also a minister during the first stint of the AAP government.
The Delhi council of ministers now has a strength of five, including CM Arvind Kejriwal, who does not hold any portfolios.
Sisodia had resigned from all his 18 posts following his arrest in the alleged excise policy scam.
After former Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain's arrest last year, seven portfolios handled by him were shifted to Sisodia, who was looking after 18 departments when he was arrested. (ANI)