Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal to hold no portfolio, no major changes in cabinet

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not hold any portfolio as he assigned Cabinet colleagues their ministries while making no major changes from his previous government.

Kejriwal will "monitor" the work of his ministers while ensuring a "direct dialogue" with people. Water Department, which was under Kejriwal during the second half of the previous government, has been given to Satyendra Jain who will also look after Health, Industry, PWD, Power, Home, Urban Development and Irrigation and Flood Control.

Previously too in 2015, Kejriwal had not taken any portfolio under him but took over the Water Department from Gautam in September 2017. Gautam had been handling the department after AAP sacked Kapil Mishra, who contested the this year's Assembly eletction unsuccessfully on a BJP ticket.

Bulk of the job goes to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who will handle Education, Finance, Land and Building Vigilance, Services, Tourism, Arts, Culture and Language. All departments which have not yet been allocated to any Minister will be looked after by Sisodia.

Senior AAP leader and party's Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai will handle Environment Department, while Rajendra Pal Gautam will handle Women and Child Development Department. Environment Department was being earlier handled by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, while the WCD was under Sisodia.

Besides Enviroment Forest and Wildlife Department, Rai will also handle Employment, Development, Labour and General Administration Department,

Hussain will look after Food and Supplies and elections while Gautam SC/ST Department, Social Welfare and Cooperatives besides Women and Child Development Department.

Gahlot will continue to look after Law and Justice, Transport, Administrative Reforms, Information and Technology and Revenue.

The Ministers took over on Monday, a day after they were sworn in at a ceremony in Ramlila Maidan attended by thousands of Delhiites. Kejriwal has preferred to retain his Cabinet colleagues in the previous government, shutting space for new faces like Atishi, Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey, who were speculated to be in his new team.