New Delhi: Senior AAP leader Atishi will be Delhi's new chief minister, the party unanimously agreed on Tuesday after Arvind Kejriwal proposed her name as his successor in a meeting of the party's legislators.
The 43-year-old, who holds 14 portfolios, including finance, education and revenue and was amongst those holding the fort while Kejriwal was in jail, will be the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Congress' Sheila Dikshit and BJP's Sushma Swaraj.
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. "He will inform the LG about Atishi being the new leader of AAP's legislative party in the Delhi Assembly," a party leader said.
Party leader Gopal Rai told reporters that after the resignation, a delegation of AAP legislators will meet the Lieutenant Governor to stake claim to the formation of a new government led by Atishi.
Though Atishi was a frontrunner for the post and considered close to both Kejriwal and his second in command, Manish Sisodia, speculation over who would succeed him was intense. To end the debate, Kejriwal proposed the name of the Kalkaji legislator at a meeting of the AAP legislative party, which was accepted unanimously.
Party leaders said the Delhi Assembly will be convened on September 26 and 27. In a surprise decision, two days after he was released on bail from Tihar Jail, Kejriwal on Sunday announced that he would resign as chief minister and would only return if people give him a "certificate of honesty" in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. He also sought early polls in the city. The assembly's term ends on February 23 next year, and elections are expected to be held sometime in early February.
Atishi, given credit for many of the AAP government's achievements in the education sector, was inducted into the Delhi cabinet in March last year and has been playing a crucial role both in the government as well as the party when AAP convener Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in connection with the excise policy case.
The daughter of Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, Atishi attended Springdales School and graduated from St Stephen's College. She then completed her Master's at Oxford University.
The BJP on Monday said Kejriwal's decision to resign as chief minister was borne out of compulsion and not driven by principle. The saffron party described his move as "drama" and a "confession of crime" and wondered if he had offered to quit because of infighting in AAP.
Dikshit was Delhi's longest-serving chief minister, holding office for 15 years from 1998 to 2013. Swaraj ruled Delhi for 52 days from October 12, 1998.