Kejriwal names six cabinet members

 

New Delhi, Dec 24, 2013 (DHNS): Arvind Kejriwal today finalised his team of ministers that includes his trusted associate Manish Sisodia and five others but was embarrassed with open dissent from a newly-elected MLA over his being kept out of the government.

 

The task of giving shape to the government was undertaken on a day deep divisions came to the fore in Congress over extending support to AAP in government formation. However, late in the night Congress sources set at rest reports that moves were on to immediately withdraw the support.

 

Kejriwal, who is likely to be sworn-in as Chief Minister on Thursday, sent to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung a list of six ministers, including the names of Sisodia, a former journalist who won from Patparganj constituency, Rakhi Birla, the giant killer who defeated PWD Minister Rajkumar Chouhan, Somnath Bharti (defeated Women and Child Development Minister Kiran Walia) Saurabh Bhardwaj, Girish Soni and Satendra Jain.

 

Disclosing this, Sisodia denied there was any dissent. He said picking up his team was the Chief Minister’s prerogative.

 

However, party sources said Vinod Kumar Binny, a two time corporator in the Delhi Municipal Corporation with Congress background, is sulking over his non-inclusion in the Cabinet.

 

An upset Binny walked out of a meeting with Kejriwal at his residence and told the media that he would address a press conference tomorrow that could embarrass the party.

 

The sources said efforts were on to pacify him in which leaders including Yogendra Yadav are said to be involved. Speculation is that he could be made the Speaker whose role will be important in a fractious House.

 

Meanwhile, Kejriwal is understood to have decided to pick up senior IAS officer, Rajendra Kumar as Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary.

 

Like Kejriwal, 47-year-old Kumar, at present Higher Education Secretary, is an alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur.

 

Kumar met Kejriwal at his residence here. Chief Secretary D M Spolia also met Kejriwal. They were described as courtesy calls. Birla, Bharti, Jain and Soni met Kejriwal.

 

The following is a list of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s cabinet:

Manish Sisodia: A 41-year-old former journalist who came to light during the Jan Lokpal movement, Sisodia routed Nakul Bhardwaj of the BJP by 11,478 votes from Patparganj. He holds a diploma in journalism. He was born in a Rajput family in Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

 

Saurabh Bhardwaj: A computer engineer by profession, he completed his BTech from Indraprastha University. Bhardwaj also studied law from Osmania University. The 34-year-old was born and raised in Delhi. He defeated Ajay Kumar Malhotra, son of veteran BJP leader V.K. Malhotra, by 13,092 votes in Greater Kailash.

 

Somnath Bharti: He pursued a degree in law from Delhi University after doing his Masters in Science from IIT-Delhi. He was also president of the IIT-Delhi alumni association. Born in Bihar, the 39-year-old moved to Delhi in 1992. He defeated two heavyweights - BJP’s Arti Mehra and Kiran Walia of Congress - in Malviya Nagar.

 

Rakhi Birla: Another former journalist, she is the youngest in the likely ministers’ list. The 26-year-old holds a Masters degree in journalism from the National Broadcasting Academy in Sarojini Nagar in south Delhi. She defeated Raj Kumar Chauhan, a minister in the Sheila Dikshit government, from Mangolpuri by 10,585 votes.

 

Satyendra Jain: He is an architect by profession and used to work with the Central Public Works Department. The 49-year-old Jain won the Shakur Basti seat defeating Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Shyam Lal Garg by 7,062 votes.

 

Girish Soni: The 49-year-old businessman defeated BJP’s Kailash Sankla by 1,103 votes from the Madipur seat. Soni, who owns a leather goods business in Madipur, studied up to Class 12 from the Senior Secondary School, Madipur, and has always resided in Delhi. He has been associated with the party since India Against Corruption days.