Assembly speaker nominates Somnath Bharti as Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel Friday nominated AAP MLA Somnath Bharti as vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board. He is set to replace Saurabh Bharadwaj, who was sworn in as minister a day earlier.

Bharti, a former Delhi law minister, is a legislator from the Malviya Nagar constituency. He was first elected from the seat in 2013.

"Members are hereby informed that Speaker, Delhi Legislative Assembly, is pleased to nominate Somnath Bharti, Hon'ble Member in place of Saurabh Bharadwaj as vice-chairperson in Delhi Water Board as per the provisions of Section 3(2)(i) of Delhi Water Board Act, 1998," Delhi Assembly Secretariat said in a statement.

This comes a day after Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi were sworn in as ministers by Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Bharadwaj will look after health, urban development, water and industries departments.

Bharti later said, "That Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal considered me worthy of such an important responsibility as the vice-chairman of Jal Board shows his greatness and I am grateful to him from the bottom of my heart.

"The honourable chief minister has many dreams regarding Jal Board. To fulfil those we have to work hard. The current Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj has done a great job as the deputy chairman of the Jal Board. We will work together to fulfil every dream of the honorable chief minister regarding the Jal Board," he added.