NEW DELHI: Less than 24 hours after the Rajya Sabha had cleared the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Atishi was on Tuesday given the portfolios of services and vigilance departments in the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government. The two departments were earlier held by Saurabh Bharadwaj. The file with changes in the cabinet portfolios has been sent to the Lieutenant-Governor for his assent.
With this cabinet reshuffle, Atishi, the only woman in the Kejriwal cabinet, is now in charge of 14 departments. Atishi was holding major portfolios such as women and child development, education, tourism, art, culture and language, PWD and power etc. The AAP’s Kalkaji MLA was inducted along with Bharadwaj in the cabinet in March following the resignations of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain.
In a reshuffle on June 30, Kejriwal assigned three additional portfolios, finance, planning and revenue, to Atishi. The move had made her second in command in the Kejriwal cabinet with 12 portfolios. These departments were previously held by Kailash Gahlot.
The AAP-led Delhi government and the BJP-led Central government have been at loggerheads over control of services and vigilance departments. Days after the Supreme Court’s order allowing the Delhi government to control services, the Centre brought an ordinance to take control from the city government. Both Houses of Parliament passed the GNCTD bill, 2023 during the ongoing monsoon session.
House session
A session of the Delhi Assembly will be convened on August 16 and 17, said officials on Tuesday. The session is expected to witness a heated debate between Kejriwal-led AAP and the Opposition BJP over the recent flooding in the city and the GNCTD Bill.