The Aam Aadmi Party has chosen Kalkaji MLA Atishi as the new chief minister of Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he will step down from the top post.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed Atishi as his successor during the legislative party meeting in the national capital. She was later elected as the leader of AAP Delhi Legislative Party.
Atishi is Delhi’s new CM: Know all about her
During a media briefing after the meeting, AAP leader and minister Gopal Rai said that Atishi will lead the party till the next assembly elections in Delhi, which are scheduled to be held in February 2025.
Rai added that AAP wants the Delhi elections to be held at the earliest, preferably in the months of October or November.
Rai further said that AAP has given two key responsibilities to Atishi.
"Atishi has been given two responsibilities by the party. First is to continue the work of the AAP government with the support of two crore people of Delhi despite all the obstacles laid out by BJP," he said.
"The second responsibility is to defend all the work carried out by the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi despite BJP's conspiracy to impede them," Rai added.
Atishi Marlena, who goes by her first name Atishi, currently oversees 11 portfolios in the Kejriwal-led government, including important ones like finance, education and PWD. This is the highest number of departments a minister holds in the Delhi government right now.
Atishi virtually became the face of the party when both Kejriwal and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia were in jail in connection with the liquor policy case.
She will be the youngest serving chief minister of the country after assuming charge.
Earlier, AAP convened for a crucial legislative party meeting on Tuesday to finalise the name of the new chief minister. The Delhi assembly will also hold a special session on September 26 and 27.
Last week, Arvind Kejriwal said that he will resign as the chief minister of Delhi after being released on bail in the liquor policy case.
He said that he will only sit on the chief minister's chair when people give him a "certificate of honesty".
Kejriwal first became the chief minister of Delhi in 2013 with the support of some Congress MLAs. He resigned from his post in February 2014 amid differences with other parties after he failed to get the Jan Lokpal Bill tabled in the Delhi assembly.
In the 2015 Delhi assembly elections, Kejriwal returned as the chief minister with a resounding mandate with AAP winning 67 out of 70 seats. In 2020, AAP retained power after winning 62 seats.
The next assembly elections are now due in Delhi in February 2025.
The Supreme Court on September 13 granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged excise policy scam. The AAP chief was arrested by the CBI on June 26 while he was in custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the money laundering case arising out of the alleged liquor policy scam.
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