Hours after taking oath as the youngest and third woman Chief Minister of Delhi, Atishi on Saturday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Lt. Gov. VK Saxena, accusing them of obstructing development efforts in the capital. Atishi assured residents that all pending projects would soon be resumed.
“For the next four months, my work would be to take care of the people of Delhi. she said at a press conference. “BJP and LG (VK Saxena) stopped the road works, stopped medicines from reaching the hospitals, stopped the tests in mohalla clinics. BJP and LG stopped the garbage collection in Delhi, but now I promise you that Arvind Kejriwal is out of jail, all these works will get completed. The garbage would be picked up, medicines will be supplied, the sewage work will be completed,”
Earlier in the day, Atishi was sworn in as Delhi Chief Minister, along with five other newly appointed ministers — Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, Kailash Gahlot, and newly elected Sultanpur Majra MLA Mukesh Ahlawat — who were also inducted into the Delhi Cabinet.
She also alleged that the BJP conspired to keep Kejriwal in jail but said the AAP leader did not succumb to their tactics.
“BJP put up a conspiracy against Kejriwal, put false allegations against him, and arrested him based on that. They kept him in jail for more than 6 months. But Arvind Kejriwal did not break or bow down. Supreme Court has given him bail, despite that in PMLA cases it is almost impossible to get bail. Not only that, they said that his arrest was due to bad luck, and said that Central agencies like CBI, ED are caged like a parrot,” she said.
“If some other neta would have been there, it would have been enough for them to get back to CM’s chair, but Arvind Kejriwal said that just Supreme Court’s decision is not enough, he wants to go to janta ki adalaat (people’s court) and prove that he is honest,” she added, ANI reported.
Atishi thanked Arvind Kejriwal for trusting her with the responsibility of being Delhi Chief Minister, referring to him as “Delhi’s son” and the most popular CM in the city’s history.
“I would like to thank Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s son, the most popular CM in the history of Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party’s neta, my elder brother and political guru, who trusted me and put such a big responsibility of taking care of Delhi’ people,” she said.
Though now sworn in as Chief Minister, Atishi expressed that Kejriwal’s absence from the role was emotional for her and others. She credited him with transforming Delhi over the past decade, understanding the struggles of ordinary people, and introducing significant reforms such as free 24/7 electricity, improving government schools, and providing free bus rides for women, which she said empowered them in education and employment.
Atishi urged Delhi residents to ensure Kejriwal’s return as Chief Minister, warning that if AAP loses in the upcoming February elections, the BJP would reverse the progress made in the last ten years.