A day after refusing to accept top-level security once he assumes office as Delhi Chief Minister, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday declined to accept the government bungalow for which also he would be entitled as the CM. While Kejriwal stuck to his common-man image, there were rumblings in his nascent party over the spoils of office.
Meanwhile, President Pranab Mukherjee cleared his appointment as Chief Minister and forwarded the letter of appointment to the Union Home Ministry.
Kejriwal will head a six-member Cabinet, which will include Manish Sisodia, a journalist turned activist, and Rakhi Birla, a 26-year-old journalist. Others are Girish Soni, AAP MLA from Madipur, Saurabh Bharadwaj, who won from Greater Kailash, and Somnath Bharati, Malaviya Nagar MLA. Kejriwal sent the list of six ministers to Lt Governor Najib Jung.
The list angered party leader Vinod Binny, who was a strong contender for a Cabinet slot. Binny was a giant-killer as he had defeated Delhi health minister AK Walia from Laxmi Nagar. He was a Congressman from 2009 to 2011, but later joined team Kejriwal. Amidst speculation that he was going to make his resentment public, the party tried to placate Binny.
Chief Secretary D M Spolia went to Kejriwal’s residence on Tuesday morning and was told by him that he would not accept any official bungalow. The duo later discussed appointment of officers in Kejriwal’s office.
The buzz among junior administrative staff in the Delhi Secretariat centred around how Chief Minister-designate Kejriwal will arrive at the Secretariat — on whether it would be in a humble Wagon-R car.