Senior AAP leader Atishi will be the new Chief Minister of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) unanimously agreed on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) after Arvind Kejriwal proposed her name as his successor.
Sources told The Hindu that it was approved by all the MLAs. Ms. Atishi has been selected as the leader of the AAP Legislative Party.
AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi arrives at CM Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in New Delhi on September 17, 2024. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
Addressing the media, Ms. Atishi said, “First of all, I thank Delhi’s beloved Chief Minister and my guru, Arvind Kejriwal for giving me such a big responsibility. Today he has given me the responsibility to be the CM. I’m happy that he has shown so much faith in me.”
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“But I’m even more sad that Delhi’s beloved CM and my big brother Arvind Kejriwal is resigning today,” she said, adding “I want to say this on behalf of the MLAs and people of Delhi: There is only one Chief Minister of Delhi and that is Arvind Kejriwal.”
“BJP put false cases on Arvind Kejriwal and kept him inside jail for six months. Finally, the Supreme Court gave him bail and called Central Government’s investigative agencies a caged parrot. And Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest is wrong,” she noted.
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“What Arvind Kejriwal did after that must have not been done by anyone in the world. He said that I’ll be Chief Minister only after people of Delhi say that ‘I’m honest and elect me as CM’.” Ms. Atishi said.
Third woman CM
Ms. Atishi is currently a Cabinet Minister in the Delhi Government and holds many important portfolios including Education, PWD, and Power. She is the MLA from Kalkaji, Delhi. She has been involved with the party since 2013.
She will be the third woman Chief Minister of the Union Territory after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to meet Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena to tender his resignation at 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday, paving the way for the appointment of a new Chief Minister of Delhi in his stead.
Mr. Kejriwal and his former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia met at the former’s residence on Monday (September 16, 2024) to discuss potential candidates to lead the Delhi Government, after which the party’s political affairs committee (PAC) gathered for further discussions.
Mr. Kejriwal announced his plan to resign as Chief Minister within 48 hours on Sunday (September 15, 2024), two days after he walked out of prison. He has called for an early Assembly election to “allow the people of Delhi to decide if the AAP government is an honest government”.
Read:Arvind Kejriwal resignation LIVE updates
“Along with Arvind Kejriwal, I will also go to the people’s court. If the people approve my honesty in election, only then will I sit on the chair,” Mr. Sisodia has said.
Mr. Kejriwal, after spending nearly six months in jail, was released on bail by the Supreme Court in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, which is currently being investigated by Central agencies. Mr. Sisodia was also jailed in the same case for over a year.
Published - September 17, 2024 12:11 pm IST
