AAP’s Atishi to become third woman Chief Minister of Delhi, BJP calls her ’dummy CM’

With Aam Aadmi Party announcing party MLA Atishi’s name as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s successor, politics in the national capital has heated up.

On one side, AAP states this political development as historical, and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party calls Atishi a ‘dummy CM’. However, AAP has said that the following decision was taken based on a consensus within the party and the opposition can say what they want.

AAP leader Kailash Gahlot said, as PTI quoted, “There was a consensus on the name of Atishi. Let BJP talk, we don’t think about it (on BJP calling Atishi a dummy CM).”

According to details, 43-year-old Atishi will be Delhi’s third woman chief minister after Congress’ Sheila Dikshit and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.

Arvind Kejriwal will meet Lt Governor V K Saxena at Raj Niwas at 4.30 pm to tender his resignation as chief minister, paving the way for Atishi’s appointment as his successor. Following this, a delegation of AAP legislators will meet the Lt Governor to stake a claim for the formation of a new government led by Atishi, party leader Gopal Rai told reporters.

Atishi’s reaction:

“I want to thank Delhi’s popular CM, my guru Arvind Kejriwal for giving me such a huge responsibility. It can happen only in AAP that a first-time politician can become the CM. I come from a normal family. If I would have been in any other party, I won’t even have got a poll ticket. However, Arvind Kejriwal trusted me, made me an MLA, minister and today given me a responsibility to become the CM,” said Delhi minister Atishi, while addressing the press after being named as CM Arvind Kejriwal’s successor.

“I am happy that Arvind Kejriwal has shown so much trust on me, but more than that I am sad because my elder brother Arvind Kejriwal is resigning today. I want to say today on behalf of AAP MLAs and two crore people of Delhi that Delhi has only one CM and his name is Arvind Kejriwal,” she added.

Atishi had said, “I will work under Arvind Kejriwal’s guidance, protect people of Delhi. I will work for next few months towards goal of bringing back Kejriwal as Delhi chief minister.”

BJP’s reaction:

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju while commenting on the latest political development in Delhi said that the public of Delhi is very troubled by the AAP government.

He said, as quoted by ANI, “The public of Delhi is very troubled by the AAP government and they are regretting it. I would blame Anna Hazare for giving a platform to Arvind Kejriwal because of which the people of Delhi are suffering. He has ruined Delhi after winning the elections by telling lies. Atishi’s surname suggests she is a leftist. The family members of Atishi supported Afzal Guru and even criticized the Supreme Court…AAP has ruined Delhi and now they are ruining Punjab. The public of Delhi has made up their mind to remove AAP from power. The public of Delhi has made a big mistake by electing such anarchists. Now they are regretting.”

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on 17 September called Atishi ‘dummy CM’ after she was chosen to replace Arvind Kejriwal.

Addressing a press conference, he said, as quoted by ANI, “Unfortunately, first Delhi had a ‘jailwala’ CM who ran the government from jail, and became the ‘bailwala’ CM later. Now there will be a dummy CM. The word ‘dummy CM’ is not mine, it is of Saurabh Bharadwaj and Somnath Bharti… The AAP party has been saying that the new CM will be a ‘Khadau’ CM, a stopgap arrangement for Arvind Kejriwal, and a night watchman CM. You made a woman CM but she is a proxy and a dummy CM also. The face has changed but will the character of this government change?… There have been scams in all departments held by Atishi… The new person on the CM chair would be someone whose family advocated for Afzal Guru… AAP and Atishi must clarify if they agree with such thoughts or not…”

Congress’ reaction:

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav on 17 September congratulated AAP leader Atishi for being choses as next Chief Minister of Delhi, but stated that this is a daunting task for her as she has much to fulfil in a very short span of time.

He said, as quoted by PTI, “We congratulate Atishi ji on becoming the new Delhi CM, she has got this opportunity in a very short time. Meanwhile, this is a very daunting task for her, and I hopeful that she will address people’s issues.”

“It is very unfortunate that Kejriwal ji is resigning today as part of a political drama. If he was to resign on moral ground, he should have resigned when allegations were levelled against him, or when he was going to jail. Today, when the court forced him to resign… since it has clearly stated that he cannot visit the CM office or sign any file, hence this is a political drama. He stands exposed before the people of Delhi.”