Chief minister

A chief minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national (e.g., constituent federal) entity. Examples include: a state (and sometimes a union territory) in India; a territory of Australia; provinces of Sri Lanka or Pakistan; Philippine autonomous regions; or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-governance. It is also used as the English version of the title given to the heads of governments of the Malay states without a monarchy.

The title is also used in the Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man (since 1986), in Guernsey (since 2004), and in Jersey (since 2005).

In Malaysia, it is used to refer to the heads of government, called in the Malay language Ketua Menteri (literally chief minister), of the Malaysian states without a sultan, i.e., Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak – while the Malay language term Menteri Besar (literally great minister), is used in other states with a monarch.

By analogy, the term is often applied to various other high ministerial offices, e.g., those in a princely state before or during the British raj, or to chancellors of the Chinese states.

Chief Minister of Delhi

The Chief Minister of Delhi is the chief executive of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in north India. According to the Constitution of India, the lieutenant governor is Delhi's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with its chief minister. Following elections to the Delhi Legislative Assembly, the lieutenant governor usually invites the party with a majority of seats to form the government. The President of India, on the advice of the lieutenant governor, appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.

Since 1952 Delhi has had seven chief ministers, starting with the Indian National Congress party's Chaudhary Brahm Prakash. Shortly after his term ended, the office of Chief Minister of Delhi was abolished for 27 years until December 1993, when the Bharatiya Janata Party's Madan Lal Khurana was sworn in. In 1998 Sheila Dikshit 15-year reign as chief minister began, the longest by a Indian woman. A 49-day stint in office by the Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal and a year under President's rule followed. In February 2015 the Aam Aadmi Party was voted in with a large majority, and Kerjiwal has served as Delhi's chief minister ever since.

Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal (born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician who is the Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. He previously served as Chief Minister from December 2013 to February 2014, stepping down after 49 days. He is the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). His party won the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections with a majority, obtaining 67 out of 70 assembly seats.

Kejriwal is a mechanical engineering graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, and worked for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) as a joint commissioner in the Income Tax Department.

In 2006, Kejriwal was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership recognising his involvement in the grassroots movement Parivartan using right-to-information legislation in a campaign against corruption. The same year, after resigning from the IRS, he donated his Magsaysay award money as a corpus fund to found the Public Cause Research Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).

In 2012, he launched the Aam Aadmi Party, and the party won in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. Following the election, he took office as the Chief Minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013. He resigned 49 days later, on 14 February 2014, stating he did so because of his minority government's inability to pass his proposed anti-corruption legislation due to a lack of support from other political parties.

Delhi

Delhi (/ˈdɛli/, Hindustani pronunciation: [d̪ɪlliː] Dilli), officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi, is the capital territory of India. Delhi is historically and culturally connected to both the Upper Doab of the Yamuna-Ganges river system and the Punjab region. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east. It is the largest city in India in terms of geographical area - about 1,484 square kilometres (573 sq mi). It has a population of about 16.3 million, making it the second most populous city and second most populous urban agglomeration in India and 3^rd largest urban area in the world. Such is the nature of urban expansion in Delhi that its growth has expanded beyond the NCT to incorporate towns in neighbouring states and at its largest extent can count a population of about 25 million residents as of 2014.

Delhi has been continuously inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and empires. It has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region.

Arvind

Arvind, a common male name of Indian origin, means "lotus" in the Sanskrit language. Its variants include Aravinda, Aravind, Arvin, Aravindan, Arahvinth, Aravindh (in South India), and Aurobindo (in Bengali). It is used by the followers of many religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Sikhism, and Islam.

Meaning

Arvind means lotus in the Sanskrit language. In particular, the word may refer to the white lotus, on which the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity - Lakshmi - sits. It could also refer to the Sanskrit term Aravindakshah (meaning the "lotus eyed one"), the 347th name used to describe the Hindu god Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranama.

Arvind is also a name of the Hindu god Shiva, who is depicted as bearing a crescent moon on his head. (Araav means top of something e.g. The Aravalli Range literally meaning line of peaks, a range of mountains. + Indu means moon.)

Aravinth is also believed to be the name for a minor god, Aravinth, one of a number of gods who lived in the court of Indra the ancient Indian god of thunder who was said to be the King of the gods. Other gods of Indra's court include Vayu - the god of wind and Agni - the god of fire. It is believed that Aravinth was the god of wit, intelligence and shrewd scholarship, before the arrival of the trinity - Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma in Hindu religion. Some stories say Aravinth often visited earth in his avatar form, testing and rewarding men for their wit.