Delhi minister Atishi Marlena will take over as the new Chief Minister from Arvind Kejriwal, who is slated to put in his papers before Lt Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday.
An MLA from Kalkaji, Atishi’s name was proposed by Kejriwal at the legislative party meeting of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday morning. All AAP MLAs supported national convenor Kejriwal’s choice of Atishi, who is his close confidant, as the next CM.
Atishi will be the third woman CM of Delhi, after Congress’ Sheila Dikshit and the BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.
Atishi, 43, prevailed over other contenders, including Cabinet colleagues Saurabh Bharadwaj and Kailash Gahlot owing to her unflinching loyalty towards Kejriwal and her ability to indulge in street politics and take on Lt Governor Saxena, sources in the party said.
Gahlot said, “Everyone unanimously agreed to the name of Atishi” as the leader of Delhi AAP legislative party and the new CM.
Since Kejriwal’s arrest in the Delhi excise case, Atishi had been at the forefront of AAP politics, vociferously defending her leader against attacks by the BJP and, to some extent, the Congress.
Atishi holds key portfolios in the Delhi government such as Education, Public Works Department, Culture and Tourism. Earlier, from July 2015 to April 2018, she was an advisor to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, until he stepped down after his arrest in the Delhi excise case along with Kejriwal and other party leaders.
Swearing in
The date for Atishi’s swearing-in will be announced after Kejriwal submits his resignation this evening.
Addressing the media after her elevation as leader of AAP legislative party, Atishi said she will work as CM for a few months, until elections, with a single goal, namely “We have to make Arvind Kejriwal the CM of Delhi once again”.
“I will have just one goal... I will try to protect the people of Delhi and run the Government under the guidance of Arvind Kejriwal,” she said.
She also thanked Kejriwal for trusting her with this “huge responsibility” , and described him as her “guru” and “elder brother”.
“First of all, I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, AAP national convener and my guru, Arvind Kejriwal. He gave me such a huge responsibility and trusted me for it. This can be done only in AAP, only under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that a first-time politician becomes the CM of a state,” Atishi stated.
“I come from an ordinary family. Had I been in any other party, perhaps I would not have been given even an election ticket. But Arvind Kejriwal trusted me, made me an MLA and a minister, and today gave me the responsibility of the CM. I am happy that Arvind Kejriwal placed such trust in me. But I am also sad because Delhi CM and my elder brother, Arvind Kejriwal is resigning today. On behalf of all AAP MLAs and the two crore people of Delhi, I would like to say that there is just one CM of Delhi — Arvind Kejriwal,” she said.
Atishi was born to educationists — Vijay Singh Tomar and Tripta Wahi, both Delhi University professors — on June 8, 1981. Having completed her schooling from Springdales School (Pusa Road), New Delhi, she graduated in history from St Stephen’s College. She is an alumni of Oxford University and a Rhodes scholar.