Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 17: Ms Atishi Marlena Singh will be the next chief minister of Delhi succeeding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal who submitted his resignation to the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday evening, four days after he was released on conditional bail by the Supreme Court in the alleged Delhi liquor scam case.
Mr Kejriwal met the LG, the centre’s representative in Delhi, at his residence to hand in his papers. Shortly afterwards Atishi told reporters “the people of Delhi are resolved to make Arvind Kejriwal the Chief Minister again” and that “this is an emotional moment for the party and the people.”
Mr Kejriwal submitted his resignation after Ms Atishi was unanimously elected the leader of the AAP legislature party at a meeting on Tuesday morning to take over from Mr Kejriwal for a brief period since the next elections to the Delhi Assembly is due in February, 2025. Mr Kejriwal has, though, called for an early election, perhaps as soon as next month.
“Today Arvind Kejriwal submitted his resignation. This is an emotional moment for the party and people of Delhi. At the same time, the people are resolved to make Kejriwal the Chief Minister again. And, till the election is held and we stake claim to the new government, I will look after Delhi,” Ms Atishi told reporters.
Speaking shortly afterwards, Atishi said Mr Kejriwal’s return will be the goal of her government and all AAP lawmakers. She appealed to voters to “make your son, your brother, Chief Minister again.” “Arvind Kejriwal believed in me… AAP believed in me. That is why I have been given this responsibility. While I am happy in this trust, I am also sad Arvind Kejriwal had to resign,” the incoming Chief Minister told reporters, “Delhi has only one Chief Minister… and that is Kejriwal.”
She also vowed to defend the AAP against the BJP “conspiracies,” accusing the opposition party of pursuing “fake charges” against hobble Mr Kejriwal and his party before the election. Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March, and again by the Central Bureau of Investigation in June, on money laundering and corruption charges linked to the liquor policy scam.
Last week, while ordering his bail in the former case (after granting relief in the latter in July), the Supreme Court said his “prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty.” The bail conditions included Mr Kejriwal being barred from signing government orders or files without the consent of the Lieutenant Governor, with whom the AAP has had several aggressive run-ins.
On Sunday, two days after leaving jail, Mr Kejriwal dropped a political bombshell, even surprising some within his own party. Mr Kejriwal – who has denied the corruption and money-laundering charges and accused the BJP of framing him – said he now also wants “justice from the people’s court.” “I got justice from the legal courts… now I will get justice from the people’s court. I want to ask the people of Delhi, is Kejriwal innocent or guilty? If I have worked, vote for me,” he declared.
Like Mr Kejriwal, his erstwhile deputy Manish Sisodia also decided against taking back ministerial responsibilities till cleared by the people’s court. Mr Sisodia too is on bail after being in the Tihar jail for over 18 months in the same alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
At the meeting of AAP MLAs earlier in the day, party leader Dilip Pandey proposed that Mr Kejriwal decide on the Chief Minister face. When the AAP national convener proposed Ms Atishi’s name, all AAP MLAs stood up and accepted it and Ms Atishi was elected leader of the legislature party.
Ms Atishi now holds key portfolios in the Delhi government such as Education and Public Works Department. An Oxford University alumnus and a Rhodes scholar, Ms Atishi has worked extensively in the AAP’s flagship exercise to overhaul education in Delhi’s schools.
An MLA from Kalkaji, the 43-year-old became a minister after Mr Sisodia was arrested in a corruption case linked to Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy. When Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia were behind bars, Atishi articulated the party’s position at party events and media exchanges.
On August 15, Mr Kejriwal chose her to hoist the tricolour at Delhi government’s Independence Day event. While Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena foiled the plan, it was clear that the AAP leadership placed immense faith in Ms Atishi.
Meanwhile, the AAP demanded its Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal, the former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to resign from the upper house and seek re-election on BJP ticket after making objectionable comments against Ms Atishi’s election as the next chief minister.
Ms Maliwal, who is at loggerheads with the AAP leadership after her term as the DCW chairperson ended, said Ms Atishi’s election meant a “sad day” for the people of Delhi claiming that her parents had tried to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged. “Today is a very sad day for Delhi. Today, a woman whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged is being made the Chief Minister of Delhi. His parents wrote mercy petitions to the Honorable President to save terrorist Afzal Guru,” said Ms Maliwal in an online post.
She termed Atishi a “dummy CM” and accused her parents of being in a political conspiracy. “According to them, Afzal Guru was innocent and was framed as part of a political conspiracy. Although Atishi Marlena is just a ‘dummy CM’, still this issue is related to the security of the country. May God protect Delhi,” said the former chief of Delhi Commission for Women. Atishi, who is currently the Education Minister of Delhi, hasn’t reacted to the remarks yet.
But the AAP Ms Maliwal reads out the BJP’s script despite being sent to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP. Senior party leader Dilip Pandey said, “Swati Maliwal takes Rajya Sabha ticket from the AAP but takes the script to react from BJP. If she has even a little shame, she should resign as a Rajya Sabha MP and choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket,” said Mr Pandey.
The demand for her resignation caps a massive rift between Ms Maliwal and the party – sparked by her allegation that Mr Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar had assaulted her at the Chief Minister’s house. Ms Maliwal’s ties with the AAP had worsened after the March episode that saw Mr Kumar’s arrest by the Delhi Police. She had even accused the AAP of victim-shaming her. Reacting to the allegations, Mr Kejriwal had said a fair probe must be held since there were two versions of the alleged incident.