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Senior AAP leader and cabinet minister Atishi will be the new chief minister of Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal resigns from the top post following a meeting with Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday. The Aam Aadmi Party unanimously agreed on Atishi’s name after Arvind Kejriwal proposed her as his successor in a meeting of the party’s legislators, according to various media reports.

Kejriwal, who was released from Tihar jail on Friday, after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a corruption case linked to Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy, announced on Sunday that he would resign as Delhi chief minister and would only return if people gave him a certificate of honesty in elections.

Atishi’s phenomenal rise

Atishi has been a key face of Aam Aadmi Party as well as the government and holds multiple portfolios in Delhi cabinet, including finance, education and PWD at present. An Oxford University alumnus and a Rhodes scholar, Atishi is often credited for the AAP’s flagship exercise to overhaul education in Delhi government schools.

Atishi, 43, an MLA from Kalkaji seat in south Delhi, first became a minister after Manish Sisodia was arrested in a corruption case linked to Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy. When both Kejriwal and Sisodia were in jail, Atishi took charge of the party and maintained its ground at party events and media exchanges.

Kejriwal showed his appreciation and faith in Atishi on August 15 when he chose her to hoist the tricolour at Delhi government’s Independence Day event. Though Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena did not let it happen, it became evident that the AAP leadership placed immense trust in Atishi and her leading abilities.

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Atishi’s rise to Delhi CM comes two days after Kejriwal’s announcement to resign from the top post. Addressing a gathering of party workers on Sunday, he said, “Two days later, I will resign as Chief Minister. I will not sit on that chair until people announce their verdict. Delhi Assembly Elections are months away. I got justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people’s court. I will sit on the Chief Minister’s chair only after the people order so.”

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