09:28 (IST)
Teachers, bus marshalls, 'baby mufflerman' to be special invitees at event
Around 50 people from different walks of life who are responsible for 'Delhi nirman' will share stage with Kejriwal during his swearing-in ceremony, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said. He said these people would include teachers, bus marshalls, architects of the Signature Bridge and families of firefighters who lost their lives.
"Baby Mufflerman'' Aavyan Tomar, who dressed up as the AAP convenor on counting day, is a 'special invitee' at the ceremony.
09:26 (IST)
Traffic restrictions in place in Delhi ahead of AAP 3.0's swearing-in
On Sunday, cars will have to be parked at the Civic Centre and behind it, PTI reported. Buses will be parked on Mata Sundri Road, Power House Road, Velodrome Road, Rajghat parking, Shanti Van parking and service roads in Rajghat and Samta Sthal as per requirements, the advisory said.
OB vans shall be parked on the footpath along JLN Marg opposite Ramlila Maidan beyond gate number 2 up to the roundabout near Kamla Market, it stated.
08:51 (IST)
Police, authorities prepare for thousands to attend swearing-in ceremony
A police official told PTI that nearly 3,000 security personnel will be deployed for the swearing-in ceremony of Arvind Kejriwal and other Delhi ministers. CCTV cameras will be fitted at and outside the venue.
Forty-five thousand chairs will be installed in Ramlila Maidan. No tents will be installed so that people can clearly see the oath-taking of Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet. Officials said that besides seating arrangements, there will be provision for people to stand as thousands are expected to attend the swearing-in.
Arrangements for other sanitation facilities like mobile toilets, are being done, the official said. Twelve large LED screens will be installed. Big banners bearing messages like 'Dhanyawad Dilli' along with the image of the AAP chief were put up on Saturday in and around the venue ahead of the mega function which is "open to public".
The sprawling ground has a capacity of about 1.25 lakh people.
08:48 (IST)
Swearing-in to be a 'Delhi-specific' ceremony, CMs of other states not invited
No chief minister or political leader from other states will be part of the event as it will be a "Delhi-specific" ceremony, Gopal Rai had said last week.
AAP instead gave front-page advertisements in newspapers, urging the people of Delhi to participate in the event, hoping that more than 50,000 people will come to see Arvind Kejriwal taking the oath as CM.
"Delhiites, your son is going to take oath of Delhi chief minister for the third time. You must come to bless your son. Sunday, February 16, 10 am, Ramlila Maidan," Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted in Hindi.
दिल्लिवासियों, आपका बेटा तीसरी बार दिल्ली के CM की शपथ लेने जा रहा है। अपने बेटे को आशीर्वाद देने ज़रूर आना है।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 13, 2020
रविवार 16 फ़रवरी, सुबह 10 बजे, रामलीला मैदान। pic.twitter.com/98k4WHTOYB
08:45 (IST)
Narendra Modi may not attend swearing-in ceremony
AAP invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend Arvind Kejriwal's swearing-in. However, it is not known if the PM will attend the ceremony. Modi had congratulated Arvind Kejriwal wishing him "very best in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Delhi".
The eight newly-elected BJP MLAs have been invited for the oath-taking ceremony, AAP leader Gopal Rai had told PTI on Thursday. An AAP leader had earlier said that all municipal councillors have also been invited in the ceremony.
08:42 (IST)
Ramlila Maidan was centre of anti-corruption stir that brought Kejriwal into prominence
Kejriwal will take oath at the Ramlila Maidan at 10 am. The venue was the centre of the Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption movement. Before entering politics, Kejriwal came to be known through this movement.
Then a fierce activist and a staunch critics of the government under Narendra Modi’s leadership, Kejriwal’s image changed over the years to a candidate who stayed measured in his responses to various statements made by the BJP, including blaming the AAP for encouraging the anti-CAA protesters in the National Capital.
08:34 (IST)
Traffic regulation around Ramlila Maidan to be in force till 2 pm
The Delhi Police had issued a traffic advisory for the day, which says that traffic regulation will be in place in the Ramlila Maidan area from 8 am to 2 pm.
According to the advisory, no commercial vehicles will be allowed from Rajghat chowk and Delhi Gate chowk towards Guru Nanak Dev chowk via JLN Marg, Chatta Rail towards Delhi Gate chowk via Netaji Subhash Marg, Paharganj chowk towards Ajmeri Gate via Desh Bandu Gupta Road, Ram Charan Aggarwal chowk towards Delhi Gate chowk via Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, DDU Minto Road towards Kamla Market chowk via Vivekanand Marg and Barakhamba Tolstoy towards Ranjit Singh flyover.
08:32 (IST)
Six AAP ministers to be retained in Cabinet
In the ceremony that will begin at 10 am, six ministers apart from Arvind Kejriwal will also take oath.
The six ministers - Manish Sisodia, Satendra Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain, Rajendra Pal Gautam - were a part of the previous Delhi Cabinet.
On Friday, President Ram Nath Kovind had appointed Kejriwal as the new Chief Minister of Delhi. According to an official notification, Kovind had also appointed six MLAs as ministers of the Delhi government following the advice of the chief minister.
08:29 (IST)
AAP sees thumping victory yet again, but margin decreases
In the 8 February polls, the AAP won in 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. In the results announced on 11 February, BJP won in just eight constituencies, while the Congress failed to open its account.
In the 2015 Assembly polls, AAP had won in 67 constituencies and BJP in three. Even then, Congress had won no seats.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will take the oath as Delhi chief minister for the third time along with his cabinet at the Ramlila ground at 10 am today.
Campaigning on its work in health, education, water and electricity sector, Kejriwal's party achieved a massive mandate for the second time in the Delhi Assembly election, where it won 62 of the 70 seats. Polling was held on 8 February and the results were declared on 11 February.
According to an official notification, President Ram Nath Kovind has also appointed six AAP MLAs as ministers of the Delhi government following the advice of the chief minister-designate.
The six ministers who will take oath along with Kejriwal on Sunday are: Manish Sisodia, Satyender Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Gautam.
Sisodia said that around 50 people from different walks of life, including teachers, bus marshalls, architects of the Signature Bridge and family of firefighters who lost their lives, among others, will share the stage with Kejriwal.
Though Kejriwal extended an invitation for the ceremony to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well, he is unlikely to attend it as he is scheduled to visit his parliamentary constituency Varanasi on Sunday.
According to reports, the swearing-in ceremony is also unlikely to be attended by any Opposition leaders or chief ministers of other non-BJP leaders.
The ceremony is scheduled at the Ramlila Ground on Sunday and traffic regulation will be in place in the area from 8 am to 2 pm, the Delhi Police said.
Kejriwal calls meet
According to party functionaries, Kejriwal on Saturday called a dinner meeting of his cabinet ministers to discuss a roadmap for Delhi's development. Kejriwal is likely to discuss with his ministers initiatives that need to be prioritised and action items for the Delhi government in the coming three months.
The meeting will also focus on developing a roadmap to make Delhi a global city, they said.
'Circular is dictatorial'
The oath-taking ceremony has already been embroiled into a controversy over a Directorate of Education circular making it "compulsory" for government school teachers to attend Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony as Delhi chief minister.
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.
Newly-elected BJP MLA Vijender Gupta wrote to Kejriwal on Saturday requesting him to withdraw the circular.
Gupta, Leader of Opposition in the previous Assembly, called the Friday's circular "dictatorial" that shattered his belief that Kejriwal's focus after coming back to power would be on governance and strengthening democratic ethos.
"By virtue of the order, 15,000 teachers and officials will have to attend the oath ceremony," Gupta wrote in his letter to Kejriwal.
Gupta, who has been re-elected from Rohini constituency, said he would attend Kejriwal's oath taking ceremony.
Reacting to Gupta's objection, the vice-chairman of Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission, Jasmine Shah, said teachers and principals were "architects" of Delhi's transformation in the past five years and they "deserved to be invited" for the swearing-in ceremony.
"When did BJP last think of teachers in at the centre of your 'vikas' (development) model? Never did, never will," Shah tweeted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged the eight seats in the 70-member Assembly while the Congress drew a blank for the second consecutive time.
February 16, 2020 at 08:54AM
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