Senior AAP leader Atishi expressed her gratitude to ‘guru’ Arvind Kejriwal after being named the new Chief Minister of Delhi on Tuesday, September 17. Atishi was unanimously chosen as Delhi’s new CM following Arvind Kejriwal’s proposal of her name as his successor during a party legislators’ meeting. 

While addressing the media after the announcement, Atishi said, “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.” 

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The AAP leader also added that she belongs to an ordinary family and might not have received an election ticket in any other party. “But Arvind Kejriwal trusted me, made me an MLA and a minister and today gave me the responsibility of the CM,” she said. 

“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 2 crore people of Delhi, I would like to say that there is just one CM of Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal,” Atishi added. 

Atishi is expected to take the oath of office at around 4:30 pm today. The 43-year-old, who manages 14 portfolios including finance, education, and revenue, and played a key role while Kejriwal was in jail, will become the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi, following Congress’s Sheila Dikshit and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.

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Swati Maliwal calls Atishi ‘dummy CM’

Meanwhile, the AAP leader has encountered criticism from her own party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. Maliwal criticised Atishi, calling her a ‘dummy CM,’ and emphasised that the issue at hand pertains to national security. She also alleged that Atishi’s parents had attempted to prevent the execution of terrorist Afzal Guru.

“Today is a sad day for Delhi. A woman is being appointed as the Chief Minister of Delhi whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from hanging. Her parents even wrote mercy petitions to the Honorable President, seeking to save Afzal Guru, asserting that he was innocent and had been falsely implicated in a political conspiracy. Although Atishi Marlena is just a ‘Dummy CM,’ this matter concerns the security of the country. May God safeguard Delhi!” said Swati Maliwal in an X post.