New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi - chosen by Arvind Kejriwal to replace him as Delhi Chief Minister following his resignation this week - has appealed to voters in the national capital to "make your son, your brother, the Chief Minister again" in the Assembly election due in February next year.
Mr Kejriwal's return, Atishi said, will be the goal of her government and all AAP lawmakers.
"Arvind Kejriwal believed in me... AAP believed in me. That is why I have been given this responsibility. While I am happy in this trust, I am also sad Arvind Kejriwal had to resign," the incoming Chief Minister told reporters, "Delhi has only one Chief Minister... and that is Kejriwal."
"Today, to all the people of Delhi, this is an appeal to make your son, your brother, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi again... because he is a honest man," she said, "Citizens, AAP MLAs, and I will work towards only one objective - to make Arvind Kejriwal Chief Minister once again."
Atishi has also vowed to defend the AAP against the Bharatiya Janata Party's "conspiracies", accusing the opposition party of pursuing "fake charges' against the outgoing Chief Minister; Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March, and again by the Central Bureau of Investigation in June, on money laundering and corruption charges linked to the alleged liquor policy scam.
He was released on bail last week. This was after spending over six months in jail and his bail pleas bounced back and forth between the trial court, the Delhi High Court, and the Supreme Court.
"BJP imposed fake cases on the AAP... made up charges against Arvind Kejriwal... but the Supreme Court gave its decision. And that decision was a slap on agencies (referring to the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate, each of which filed a case against Mr Kejriwal)..."
READ | AAP's Atishi To Be New Delhi Chief Minister, Chosen By Kejriwal
Atishi will take over after Mr Kejriwal - who dropped quite the political bombshell Sunday - meets Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena this evening, when he will formally resign. Her promotion was confirmed at AAP legislators' meeting, at which she was elected to lead the party' legislative council.
A 43-year-old MLA from South Delhi's Kalkaji, Atishi shot to prominence after ex Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested in the liquor policy case in February last year.
READ | Meteoric Rise Of AAP's Atishi, Delhi's Next Chief Minister
She was handed charge of the Education Department led till then by Mr Sisodia.
Her role grew further following the arrest of Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in the same case. And, after Mr Kejriwal's arrest, Atishi and her colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj were given key portfolios - he got Health and Water, she got Public Works - and she began leading the party's fightback.
On August 15, Mr Kejriwal chose her to hoist the national flag at the Delhi Government's Independence Day event. While Lt Governor VK Saxena foiled that plan, it was clear then the AAP leadership placed immense faith in Atishi.
READ | Kejriwal Says, "Will Quit In 48 Hours, BJP Asks "Why Not Today?"
Arvind Kejriwal's resignation has been panned by the BJP as "drama" to generate sympathy ahead of the Assembly election, which the AAP leader wants brought forward to November. Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia said they will seek a 'clean chit' from the voters to back the Supreme Court's bail orders.
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