New Delhi: Following a meeting with Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena this afternoon, Delhi Minister Atishi will assume the role of Chief Minister following Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation. At a gathering of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators today, a decision was made.
Party leader Dilip Pandey suggested that Mr. Kejriwal choose the Chief Minister’s appearance during today’s AAP MLA meeting. All of the AAP MLAs rose up and approved Ms. Atishi’s name when the party’s national convener suggested it, and she was chosen as the legislature party’s leader.
In the Delhi administration, Ms. Atishi currently oversees important departments like the Public Works and Education departments. Ms. Atishi, a Rhodes scholar and Oxford University alumna, has contributed significantly to the AAP’s main initiative to improve education in Delhi’s schools.
The 43-year-old, a Kalkaji MLA, was promoted to minister following Mr. Sisodia’s incarceration in a corruption case involving Delhi’s since-repeated alcohol policy. During party functions and interviews with the media, Atishi expressed the party’s stance while Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Sisodia were incarcerated.
Her choice to raise the tricolor at the Delhi government’s Independence Day ceremony on August 15 was made by Mr. Kejriwal. Even though the scheme was thwarted by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, it was evident that Ms. Atishi was highly trusted by the AAP leadership.
Following the announcement, Ms. Atishi congratulated Mr. Kejriwal, her mentor, in a media statement. “I have been entrusted with this task by Arvind Kejriwal. I implore everyone in Delhi to reinstate their son and brother, Arvind Kejriwal, as chief minister because he is a trustworthy person.”
Ms. Atishi’s promotion occurs two days after Mr. Kejriwal made the unexpected news that he would be resigning from the top position. Speaking to a group of party members on Sunday, the chief minister of Delhi declared, “I will step down as chief minister in two days. I refuse to take that chair until the people have rendered their decision. Delhi will hold elections in a few months. I shall now receive justice from the people’s court after receiving justice from the legal court. Only at the people’s command will I take the Chief Minister’s seat.”
Two days before to his shocking Sunday speech, Mr. Kejriwal was given bail by the Supreme Court in a corruption case involving the now-canceled liquor policy in Delhi. Six months after his arrest, the bail order made it possible for him to be released from prison.
