On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), submitted his resignation to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena. Atishi Marlena, a senior AAP leader and minister who was selected by the party’s lawmakers to be the next chief minister, met with the lieutenant governor to assert her candidature.
Marlene quoted to the media, “This is the first time in the democratic history of the world that a Chief Minister has decided that the decision of the Supreme Court is not enough for him. Until the court of the people gives its verdict, he will not sit on the Chief Minister’s chair. The people of Delhi want to see Arvind Kejriwal ji as the Chief Minister, so they have vowed to make him win in the next elections too. The whole Delhi is saddened by Kejriwal’s resignation.”
Kejriwal suggested Atishi’s name during the legislature party meeting, and the AAP MLAs all agreed to it. According to sources, Atishi, the representative for Kalkaji seat, would take the oath of office during a special Assembly session on September 26–27 instead of the Deputy Chief Minister.
As per Gopal Rai, Atishi, who has been a part of the AAP since its founding, has two main duties: serving Delhi’s two crore citizens and putting an end to the BJP’s plots. He quoted, “The responsibility has been given to Atishi in testing times. Agencies were being misused against AAP to destabilise the government. AAP has frustrated these attempts.”