Hope we all work for Delhi, says Kejriwal after chat with Baijal

Soon after Anil Baijal took oath as Delhi’s new lieutenant governor at Raj Niwas on Saturday morning, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had a long chat with him.

At 11 am, Baijal walked in with the CM and Delhi high court chief justice G Rohini, who administered the oath of office and secrecy.

As he stepped down from the stage, Kejriwal congratulated Baijal, creating excitement among photographers and journalists. Later, they moved on for tea and had a long chat.

“New L-G has taken over and we welcome him. We are hopeful that in the future, we all – MLAs, Delhi government, people of Delhi - will work with the L-G for the development of Delhi. In the last few months, some works of the Delhi government have come to standstill,” Kejriwal said later.

Read: Want to work with AAP govt but don’t know how ties will be: New L-G Baijal

Baijal took over as the 21st L-G. Apart from the chief minister, national security advisor Ajit Doval, judges, Delhi chief secretary M M Kutty, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, water minister Kapil Mishra, New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, Opposition leader Vijender Gupta and BJP MLAs O P Sharma and Jadgish Pradhan and senior bureaucrats attended the oath-taking ceremony.

Senior officers of Delhi Police and family members of Baijal were also present.

Baijal’s predecessor Najeeb Jung had several run-ins with the Delhi government with chief minister Kejriwal accusing him of trying to run the city’s administration by proxy.

Baijal will have to navigate complicated jurisdictional issues that arise out of Delhi’s unique position as a Union Territory acting as the national capital.

Many AAP MLAs congratulated the L-G. “There are many files which are pending with the L-G and we hope he will start clearing that. Projects that are stuck will restart if L-G gives his go ahead,” said a government official.