AAP's Swati Maliwal Spotted As Rekha Gupta Takes Oath As Chief Minister

AAP MP Swati Maliwal was among the high-profile political figures at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan Thursday as the BJP's Rekha Gupta was sworn in as the new Chief Minister.

A video shared online by news agency PTI showed Ms Maliwal, the ex-boss of the Delhi Commission for Women, on a stage (one of three that was set up) - with a banner showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the background - and chatting intently with Devender Yadav, the Congress' Delhi unit chief.

Ms Maliwal, once a close aide of party boss and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has emerged as one of his more vocal critics in recent weeks and months.

The shift began in May last year, when she accused another of Mr Kejriwal's aides, Bibhav Kumar, of assault. She claimed she had been invited to Mr Kejriwal's residence (this was when he was Chief Minister) to discuss party issues, but instead was physically beaten by Mr Kumar.

VIDEO | AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) attends Delhi CM oath-taking ceremony at Ramlila Maidan.

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/z9kXxTo9GX

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 20, 2025

Mr Kejriwal, she further claimed, was present in the building at the time.

The rift between Mr Kejriwal and Ms Maliwal widened during the Haryana election in October 2024, when she accused him of betraying the Congress-led INDIA bloc by leading the AAP into a solo contest, one the party lost badly. The AAP secured less than two per cent of total votes.

And, in the build-up to the Delhi election this month, she was detained by Delhi Police after staging a protest outside Arvind Kejriwal's residence, demanding action against him for failing to clean the Yamuna River, as he had vowed to do before the 2020 poll.

And, as the Delhi election result were announced, Ms Maliwal took pot-shots at Mr Kejriwal, including an X post with no comment and only a photograph showing the 'cheerharan' (disrobing) of Draupadi from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

READ | As Kejriwal Loses, Swati Maliwal's "Draupadi" Post Goes Viral

Hours later she spoke to NDTV and blamed Mr Kejriwal for the AAP's big defeat in Delhi.

"I feel if a person gets extremely arrogant and stops working for the people, then the people teach that man a lesson. That is exactly what has happened with Arvind Kejriwal today."

READ | "I Blame Arvind Kejriwal": AAP's Swati Maliwal On Party's Loss In Delhi

"All of us have contributed so much to the party. We came with a vision... but, unfortunately, we could not because of our leaders, who does not believe in internal democracy and believes he can get away with anything with speaking any lie, with beating up people," she raged.

Ms Maliwal also responded to speculation that has persisted since her feud with Mr Kejriwal - that she will quit the party and surrender her Rajya Sabha seat. She told NDTV she had no intention of doing that, saying, "I'm an AAP MP and will continue... people say that because I raise questions I should resign. But my question is, why? I have not done anything wrong."

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