Kejriwal officially resigns, Atishi to be 3rd woman CM of Delhi

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will vacate the chief minister’s bungalow in Civil Lines in a few weeks, paving the way for Atishi to move in.

Kejriwal resigned stepped down from the post of chief minister following which Delhi’s new CM Atishi staked claim to form the government.

New Delhi Chief Minister Atishi said that Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation is an “emotional moment” for the Aam Aadmi Party after she staked claim to for the government at the LG Secretariat.

She said, “Today Arvind Kejriwal has submitted his resignation. This is an emotional moment for the party and the people of Delhi…At the same time, the people of Delhi are resolving to make Arvind Kejriwal the chief minister again…Till the elections are not held I will be looking after Delhi.”

AAP Minister Gopal Rai said that Atishi has staked claim to form the government in Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal tendered his resignation to the Lieutenant Governor.

Atishi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have reached the Lieutenant Governor’s secretariat. Kejriwal will tender his resignation to LG VK Saxena in a while.

Delhi’s new Chief Minister Atishi, in her first comment after getting elected to the post, said that Delhi has only one chief minister and that is Arvind Kejriwal.

She urged the people of the national capital to vote for Aam Aadmi Party in the 2025 assembly elections to bring Kejriwal back.

Aam Aadmi Party senior leader Dilip Pandey has called for the resignation of Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal after she said that the new chief minister of Delhi Atishi’s family “fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged.”

Pandey said, “Swati Maliwal takes Rajya Sabha ticket from the AAP but takes the script to react from BJP. If she has even a little shame, she should resign as a Rajya Sabha MP and choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket.”

Arvind Kejriwal rose India’s political scene through his anti-corruption campaign that culminated in a massive sit-in at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in 2011. With talks with the then-Manmohan Singh government not ending the stalemate over a Janlokpal Bill — a model law to fight corruption in India, proposed by India Against Corruption, which led the protests of which veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare became the face of the movement — Kejriwal, his aide Manish Sisodia and others broke away from the movement and formed a political party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to contest the 2013 Delhi Assembly election.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has chosen senior party leader Atishi as the next Chief Minister of Delhi.

Atishi will succeed Arvind Kejriwal, who will resign as the CM of Delhi later in the day. She is currently in Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi government where she holds education and public works departments among other portfolios.

Senior AAP leader Atishi will be the new chief minister of Delhi, the party unanimously agreed on Tuesday after Arvind Kejriwal proposed her name as his successor in a meeting of the party’s legislators.

Kejriwal, who was released from jail on Friday, announced on Sunday that he would resign from the post and would only return if people give him a certificate of honesty.

Atishi is a key face of the party as well as the government and holds multiple portfolios, including finance, education and PWD.

The Aam Aadmi Party will announce the name of the leader who will replace Arvind Kejriwal as the Delhi chief minister at 12 pm on Tuesday after the legislative party meeting, the party said.

The Delhi Assembly will be convened on September 26 and 27, it said.

“The name of the new CM will be announced at 12 noon today after the legislative party meeting,” a party functionary said.

Party sources stated on Monday that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is scheduled to step down from his position on Tuesday, will leave the Chief Minister’s house at Civil Lines in a few weeks.

He, his spouse, parents, and kids reside at the Civil Lines home. The party wants the new chief minister to take office as quickly as possible, according to sources.

According to sources, there would be one Chief Minister and no deputy Chief Minister.

Atishi is one of the two names on the shortlist for the job.

The emphasis is on choosing an individual with vast system knowledge and administrative expertise, indicating that this will be an administrative decision as opposed to a political one.

The Aam Aadmi party is set to announce the new Delhi Chief Minister by 12 pm today after the party’s legislative meeting in the national capital.

According to the Aam Aadmi Party, the meeting will be held today at the Chief Minister’s residence.

Following this, Arvind Kejriwal will meet the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at 4:30 p.m. today. The newly chosen leader of the legislative party will simultaneously stake a claim for the post of Chief Minister.

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj remained tight-lipped about who will succeed Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister, stating only that the successor could be either a current minister or an MLA.

AAP leader Sandeep Pathak on Monday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal does not have greed for power and honour is paramount for him.

He has vowed not to sit on the chief minister’s chair till people give him a “certificate of honesty”, he added.

Pathak, Rajya Sabha MP and the party’s general secretary (organisation) said this in Jind, where he held a meeting with party leaders and prepared a module of AAP’s campaign for the next fifteen days for the October 5 Haryana polls.

The BJP’s Delhi president Virender Sachdeva on Monday said AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to resign as chief minister was borne out of “compulsion” and not driven by “principle”.

Sachdeva also alleged that none of the Delhi government departments was free of corruption under Kejriwal’s rule.

Responding to Sachdeva, AAP alleged that the Delhi BJP chief did nothing but held press conferences and spread false propaganda against the party.

With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expected to resign later on Tuesday, AAP MLAs will hold a crucial meeting at 11.30 am at his residence to pick his successor.

Kejriwal is likely to meet Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena at 4.30 pm and tender his resignation.

After being released from Tihar jail on bail in the excise policy case, the AAP national convenor said on Sunday that he would resign within 48 hours and sought early polls in Delhi. He vowed not to sit in the chief minister’s chair till people gave him a “certificate of honesty”.