Delhi minister Atishi Singh is set to become the new chief minister of India's national capital territory following the resignation of incumbent Arvind Kejriwal, according to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday.
Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he will step down as chief minister of the Delhi regional government, just two days after being released from prison on bail in a corruption case. Atishi, who currently holds key portfolios in the Delhi government including Education and Public Works Department, is an Oxford University alumna and a Rhodes scholar. She has been extensively involved in the AAP's flagship initiative to reform education in Delhi's schools.
The 43-year-old is an MLA from the Kalkaji constituency and assumed the role of minister after Mr. Sisodia was arrested in a corruption case linked to Delhi's now-scrapped liquor policy. Kejriwal's resignation comes after he was granted bail on Friday by India's Supreme Court, nearly six months after being detained in relation to alleged irregularities in the capital city's liquor policy.
Kejriwal, a staunch critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a former anti-corruption activist, has seen his decade-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rise rapidly in mainstream politics, although its influence remains relatively small compared to older opposition parties. Announcing his resignation at a meeting with AAP workers, Kejriwal stated that he would only return to the post if the public certifies his honesty by voting for him in the upcoming Delhi election. He urged the Election Commission to advance the Delhi election to November, from February 2025.
"I demand elections be held in November with Maharashtra elections, I demand the elections be held immediately," Kejriwal said. He was initially detained in March by India's financial crime-fighting agency, just weeks before the country's national elections, in connection with Delhi's liquor policy. Despite being granted bail in that case in July, he remained in custody due to his arrest the previous month by the federal police in another graft case related to the same policy.
Kejriwal, 55, and AAP vehemently deny the allegations, asserting that the cases are "politically motivated."
