'Main...': Ashish Sood honours parents in emotional Delhi Cabinet oath
The newly elected Delhi Minister Ashish Sood included his parents' names, first his father's and then his mother's, while taking the oath as a Delhi government Cabinet Minister at Ramlila Maidan on Thursday. "Main (I) Ashish Shriram Madan Gopal Sood...," the newly sworn minister began his oath.
Notably, Shriram Madangopal Sood is his father's name.
Similarly, later in his speech, the minister mentioned his mother's name, saying, "Main (I) Ashish Sushila Madan Gopal Sood..." and continued his oath.
Senior citizens present at the iconic Ramlila Maidan, who heard Sood's words, appreciated him for including his parents' names while taking the oath of the Minister's office.
Seven BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and six new Cabinet Ministers – Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Ashish Sood, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Ravindra Inraj Singh, Kapil Mishra, and Dr Pankaj Singh – took the oath in front of a sea of supporters.
While most of them recited the words in Hindi, Rajouri Garden MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa took the oath in the Punjabi language.
He is the only minister in the Delhi cabinet who belongs to the Sikh minority community.
The event was attended by the top brass of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president JP Nadda, BJP's ally in NDA – Andhra CM Chandra Babu Naidu, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, among several key saffron party leaders.
The new chief minister and her ministers will most likely head to the Delhi Secretariat to take charge of their offices.