With Ramlila Maidan all decked up, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal is set to take oath as Delhi's chief minister — for a third consecutive term — at 10 am on Sunday, February 16.
Kejriwal is the first and the only Chief Minister of Delhi who has preferred the historic Ramlila Maidan for his oath ceremonies, while his predecessors took oath in the Raj Niwas.
The venue in the national capital is indeed close to Kejriwal's heart as it was from this place that Kejriwal joined Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption movement in 2011. The movement later became Kejriwal's gateway to politics in 2012.
The city went for polls in 2013, and Kejriwal became the Chief Minister of Delhi with the help of the Congress. He took the oath for the first time on December 28, 2013 in the Ramlila Maidan.
However, after 49 days in office Kejriwal resigned on February 14, 2014, the City again went for polls in 2015 and from the same venue a year later on February 14, 2015, he took oath for the second time as the Chief Minister of Delhi.
After completing the term in office, Kejriwal has been again elected as the Delhi Chief Minister for the third time and will be taking the oath from the same venue.
'Thank you Delhi' posters put up ahead of Kejriwal oath
As Kejriwal will take the oath of the Chief Minister's office on at the Ramlila Maidan where big posters saying 'Thank You Delhi!' have been put up.
Kejriwal will take oath along with his designated Cabinet -- Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Pal Gautam.
AAP bagged 62 of 70 Assembly seats
The AAP got massive mandate in the Delhi Assembly elections as it was elected in 62 of the 70 Assembly constituencies here. The BJP could only manage to get eight seats. And the Congress could get any seat.
The entire city has been invited to the ceremony. The party is expecting close to one lakh people, with a major portion of the crowd being the common man of Delhi.
According to the party, the posters have been put up to thank the city for the massive mandate.
Senior officials involved in the preparations said around 5,000 security personnel, 125 CCTV cameras, 12 LED screens and 45,000 chairs will be deployed at the ground.
Kejriwal has invited the entire city, along with all the elected representatives from Lok Sabha and local bodies. The invitation has also been given to all the newly-elected MLAs.
A total of 50 representatives, from different sectors contributing towards the Delhi governance, are the special guests, who will be sharing the stage with Kejriwal and the new Cabinet.
