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Purnima Sethi sworn-in as minister

Purnima Sethi was sworn in as the first woman minister of the Delhi government at a simple ceremony at the Raj Niwas in the national capital today.

Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sethi, while Chief Secretary P V Jayakrishnan read out the warrant of appointment.

With Sethi's induction, the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party ministry goes up to seven, including the chief minister. She fills the vacancy caused by the resignation of civil supplies minister LAL behari Tewari following his election as an MP.

Chief Minister Sahib Singh, leader of the Opposition Jag Pravesh Chandra, several MPs and MLAs and senior government officials were among those who witnessed the swearing-in.

Official sources said Sethi's portfolio would be announced later.

Sethi, who is the BJP legislator from Kalkaji in South Delhi, is a practising lawyer. She entered politics during her college days and served as secretary of the All India Janata Yuva Morcha and was national convener of the Janata Vidyarthi Morcha.

Graduating to city politics, she remained president of the Delhi Pradesh Mahila Morcha between 1988 and 1990. She was elected to the municipal corporation in 1983 and remained a member till the civic body was superseded in 1989. In 1993, she was elected to the newly- constituted Delhi assembly.

Considered among the senior members in the Delhi party unit, Sethi's is the first ministerial appointment made by Sahib Singh, who had inherited the present cabinet from his predecessor Madan Lal Khurana.

The new ministerial appointment comes with just a few months left for the current assembly's term to end.

UNI

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