Arvind Kejriwal resigns as Delhi chief minister, passes baton to trusted aide Atishi
New Delhi: Atishi is all set to take over as the Delhi Chief Minister succeeding Arvind Kejriwal, who resigned on Tuesday, after AAP puts its stamp on the latter’s proposal that is seen as a political manoeuvre aimed at shaking off negative perception accumulated due to corruption allegations.
Kejriwal submitted his resignation to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena in the evening followed by Atishi, who was accompanying him staked claim to form the government, armed with a resolution cleared by AAP’s Legislature Party that appointed her the leader.
The third woman to assume the chair in the capital after Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit, Atishi’s name was proposed before party MLAs by Kejriwal himself and there was unanimous approval with a rider that she will remain Chief Minister “till the Assembly elections”.
The surprise ascension of the 43-year-old Oxford alumna came as Kejriwal on Sunday announced that he will quit as Chief Minister and reclaim the seat only when he gets a “certificate of honesty” from people in the next elections. He is facing corruption charges in the Delhi excise policy case.
After Kejriwal was arrested in March this year, Atishi had emerged as the face of the government.
Her choice did not come as a surprise as she was holding 14 ministries, including finance, education and revenue. He had also chosen her as the minister to unfurl the tricolour on Independence Day while he was in jail but the LG assigned the job to her ministerial colleague Kailash Gahlot.
Though she does not project her caste credentials, it appears that the AAP chief also sought to factor in that she is from a family of Punjabi Hindus, who are a dominant voting group in the capital. She belongs to the Rajput community.
Atishi, who does not use her surname ‘Marlena’ since 2018, thanked Kejriwal “my elder brother, my guru” for choosing her to succeed him but said she is “sad” that the “most popular Delhi Chief Minister is resigning” from the post and no one should congratulate her or garland her.
A first-term MLA’s ascension to the Chief Minister’s post would not have happened if she was in some other party, she said, adding she was happy that Kejriwal showed faith in her abilities.
“We have to make Kejriwal the Chief Minister again. Till I am the Chief Minister, I have only one aim to save Delhiites from the machinations of the BJP, which has been conspiring against Kejriwal for the past two years. They will conspire with the LG to stop free power, free medicines, shut mohalla clinics, harm schools. My assignment for the next few months is to prevent this from happening,” she said.
“I will work under Arvind Kejriwal's guidance to protect the people of Delhi. I will work for next few months towards the goal of bringing back Kejriwal as Delhi chief minister,” she said, adding his resignation was unparalleled in the history of the country's democracy, which has made Delhiites sad.
AAP sources said a session of Delhi Assembly will be convened on September 26-27.
Announcing the Legislature Party's decision, senior Minister and Delhi AAP Convenor Gopal Rai told reporters that Atishi has been chosen as the next Chief Minister "till the next Assembly elections". He said the Legislature party has given the two tasks -- to ensure that no work is stopped due to obstacles put by the BJP and lead the protest against the saffron party.
The decision on the new cabinet will be taken by the party later on, Rai said.