Atishi set to be Delhi CM as Kejri exits

PTI, New Delhi: Senior AAP leader Atishi is set to be the next chief minister of Delhi after Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the post on Tuesday in a move seen as a bold gambit to seize the initiative ahead of assembly elections due in five months. "I will work with one goal for the next few months… to bring back Kejriwal as the chief minister,” said the 43-year-old, who along with Kejriwal and other party leaders met Lt Governor V K Saxena and staked claim to form the government after being elected the leader of the AAP legislature party.

Atishi will be Delhi's third woman chief minister after Congress' Sheila Dikshit and BJP's Sushma Swaraj. It was confirmation if any were needed that Kejriwal's grip on the party remains firm and this move is aimed at giving him space to set the agenda. Beset by charges of corruption over the excise scam and released from jail last week, the AAP supremo submitted his resignation to the Lt Governor in the evening, virtually seeking a referendum on his “politics of honesty”.

Though Atishi was a frontrunner and considered close to Kejriwal and his second in command Manish Sisodia, the speculation over who would succeed him was intense. Ending the debate, Kejriwal proposed the name of the Kalkaji legislator at a meeting of the legislature party and it was accepted unanimously. Atishi, with 14 portfolios, was amongst those holding the fort while he was in jail.

IMPRESSIVE CREDENTIALS

The daughter of Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, Atishi did her schooling from Springdales School and went on to graduate from St Stephen's College. She did her Masters from Oxford University.

Sheila Dikshit was Delhi's longest-serving chief minister, holding office for 15 years from 1998 to 2013. Sushma Swaraj ruled Delhi for 52 days from October 12, 1998.