Delhi's activist CM gets cracking

Transfers 9 senior officials, including Delhi Jal Board CEO and power & finance secretaries; warns bureaucrats against corruption

Soon after being sworn in as Delhi’s chief minister on Saturday, Arvind Kejriwal conceded he had no magic wand to deliver on promises but assured he would make an honest attempt. Metamorphosing himself from an activist into a seasoned politician, he launched a veiled attack on his opponents, took a swipe at his mentor Anna Hazare and warned government officials against corruption.

According to news agency PTI, nine senior Delhi government officials, including Delhi Jal Board CEO and the power and finance secretaries, were transferred to other departments. The reason for the move was not immediately known.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal and six of his colleagues — Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Satyendra Kumar Jain, Rakhi Birla, Somnath Bharti and Girish Soni — took oath as ministers at the Ram Lila ground, the epicentre of the anti-corruption crusade that catapulted some of them to the national arena.

The new ministers held their first Cabinet meeting soon after the swearing-in ceremony and announced a slew of measures, including a review of CNG prices. Kejriwal refused additional security personnel and vehicles with red beacons for legislators and senior officers, signalling an end to the VIP culture in the national capital.

After declaring he would personally ensure action against officials seeking bribe, he used the same platform to make his party activists take a pledge that they would neither pay not accept bribe.

Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will have to prove majority on the floor of the Delhi Assembly by January 3. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated him over the telephone and promised support to his party. Hazare, who could not come to the venue due to poor health, extended his greetings through a letter.

It was a departure from the usual when Kejriwal — in grey trousers, a light-coloured shirt and a blue pullover, instead of politicians’ favourite white kurta-pyjama — addressed around 40,000 people dotting every inch of the ground with the party’s signature white caps, brooms and tricolour flags. “It’s a miracle,” he said, “we had not thought we would be able to uproot corrupt parties. This is the beginning and the fight has only just begun. It is not I who has taken oath as CM — every Delhi resident has become chief minister today”.

The close of Kejriwal’s speech was even more unconventional as he chose to break into a Hindi movie song on brotherhood — Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichaara (let there be brotherhood among people).

In the run-up to the recently-concluded Assembly election in the capital, AAP had been written off by many as being just the vote-spoiler. Even experts have found many of the party’s poll promises unfeasible. But Kejriwal drew loud cheers when he said: “We don’t have a solution to every problem. We don’t have a magic wand... but 15 million people can collectively find solution to all problems.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the principal Opposition, however, was quick to lash out at Kejriwal’s speech. Its leader Harsh Vardhan questioned Kejriwal’s “reneging on his promises” and said AAP’s alliance with Congress would not last long.

Political analysts, on the other hand, said Kejriwal had reset people’s expectations by decentralising the responsibility of change to 15 million people.

“He has all the noble intentions of fulfilling promises. And yet he is giving the assurances of a leader — that the buck stops with him. He will get things delivered. He is politely telling all his critics that his decision of joining politics was right and his course has now been proved right,” said Mumbai-based political analyst Jai Mrug.