The leader of the Aam Admy Party, a member of the opposition to Modi, released by the Supreme Court after being arrested last March in connection with the excise scandal, has resigned from his post as head of the local government of the Indian capital and appointed another member of his party to succeed him. However, he wants to bring forward the administrative vote to November in order to obtain a “certificate of honesty” from the citizens of Delhi and take back control of the Executive.
Delhi () – Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal today appointed 43-year-old Atishi Marlena Singh, a member of his own party, as his successor at the head of Delhi’s local government. Kejriwal had previously announced his resignation as Delhi Chief Minister, 48 hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the Delhi excise policy case – for which he was arrested last March – although it had banned him from entering the Prime Minister’s office.
Kejriwal, a former civil servant, became a champion of the fight against corruption through his Aam Aadmy party and has headed the local administration of Delhi almost continuously since 2013, presenting himself as a populist opponent of Narendra Modi and his BJP, the Hindu nationalist party. However, the transfer of power to Atishi, as intended by the AAP leader, is still provisional in nature. Indeed, he has said that he will seek re-election and that he will not take up the prime ministership before having obtained a “certificate of honesty” from the citizens of Delhi. For this reason, Arvind Kejriwal also asked the Election Commission to bring forward the elections for the Delhi assembly to November, instead of waiting for the normal deadline in February 2025.
Atishi – the daughter of two Delhi University professors – has been a member of the AAP since its founding and is a key face of the party. She coordinated school reform and had already entered local government last year, when she took over the Finance and Education portfolios. While Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were in prison, Atishi positioned herself as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief critic in the capital. She also defended the AAP government during the water crisis in Delhi.
The BJP reacted to Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation and Atishi’s appointment by dismissing it as a mere “PR ploy”.
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