Atishi Is Delhi's New Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal To Resign Later Today: AAP

Atishi will be the new Chief Minister of Delhi. The decision came after a legislative party meeting was chaired by Arvind Kejriwal at his Delhi residence earlier today, wherein Atishi’s name was proposed.

Kejriwal is expected to tender his resignation later today, and will also meet Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at 4.30 pm.

Atishi is the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi after Sheila Dikshit and Sushma Swaraj.

ATISHI THANKS KEJRIWAL, CALLS HIM HER ‘GURU’

Upon being named Delhi’s new Chief Minister, Atishi today termed Kejriwal as her “guru” and thanked him for “having faith” in her.

“It can only happen in the Aam Aadmi Party, and under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that I was made an MLA and then a minister and now the Chief Minister. I am happy that I have become the Chief Minister, but sad that my elder brother, Arvind Kejriwal, will be resigning from his post. There is just one Chief Minister of Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal,” Atishi said.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has conspired to create difficulties for Arvind Kejriwal,” she alleged.

“Arvind Kejriwal said that the decision of the Supreme Court (that he can continue being the Chief Minister) is not enough. He said that if only the people of Delhi reimpose faith in him, he will become the Chief Minister again,” Atishi said.

“The people of Delhi will today oath to make Arvind Kejriwal the Chief Minister, because he has given them a lot – free electricity, free water, free bus rides, and more, whereas the BJP, who is governing 22 states, has not given anything to the people,” she said.

WHEN KEJRIWAL ANNOUNCED HIS RESIGNATION

On September 13, Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail, where he had been lodged for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case. Nearly two days after his release, on Sunday, Kejriwal said he would resign as the Chief Minister within 48 hours.

He also sought early polls in Delhi, and vowed not to sit in the chief minister’s chair until people gave him a “certificate of honesty”.

On Monday, the AAP held a series of meetings as Kejriwal sought feedback from members of the political affairs committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, on his successor in one-on-one meetings at his official residence.

ATISHI’s POLITICAL CAREER

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Atishi was appointed the in-charge for East Delhi as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate. She lost to the BJP’s Gautam Gambhir by a margin of 4.77 lakh votes.

During the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, Atishi contested from the Kalkaji constituency of South Delhi. She defeated BJP candidate Dharambir Singh by 11,422 votes.

Later, she was inducted into the Delhi government as a Cabinet Minister, along with Saurabh Bharadwaj after the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyender Jain.

WHO WERE THE CM PROBABLES

Names of Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj were making the rounds as contenders, news agency PTI had quoted party insiders as saying and added that Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel were also the probables.

Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla, who is also the deputy speaker in the assembly, and Kondli legislator Kuldeep Kumar were also potential candidates, they added.

Earlier, sources with the AAP had told PTI that the surprise candidate could also be a member of the minority community as the party has witnessed its support among the community wavering since the 2020 Delhi riots.