Arvind Kejriwal has promised to make Delhi India's first corruption-free state and end what he called its "VIP culture" as he was sworn in as chief minister Saturday in front of a huge crowd of cheering supporters.
The veteran anti-graft campaigner also pledged to stick out his five-year term and said he would not succumb to arrogance after his upstart Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP) won one of the biggest election victories the Indian capital has ever seen.
Kejriwal dealt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party its first major defeat since last year's general election after pledges to tackle entrenched corruption and lower utility bills won over legions of working-class voters willing to give him a second chance.
The 46-year-old former civil servant's first term as chief minister lasted just 49 days and ended in chaos when he quit exactly a year ago.
Despite that, his party took all but three of the 70 state parliament seats in elections last Saturday, a remarkable turnaround for the politician most pundits had written off after a poor performance in the general election.
In his inauguration speech, Kejriwal admitted he had been over-ambitious, and promised to focus on running the capital.
"I have decided that for the next five years we will only focus on Delhi. I will serve Delhi with all my heart," he told the gathered crowd at the open-air ceremony.
"I will make Delhi corruption-free within five years," he said, promising to push through an anti-corruption bill.
Corruption is a huge problem in Delhi, where many citizens complain that they need to pay bribes even for something as basic as getting a driver's licence, and the city saw the emergence of a huge anti-graft movement in 2011.
Kejriwal also said his government would eschew the trappings of power, including the red beacons that allow senior politicians to glide through traffic in the gridlocked city.
Share
