Swati Maliwal attacks Atishi; says her family fought long battle to save Afzal Guru
New Delhi: Launching a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party and Atishi, who is set to succeed as the Delhi Chief Minister, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal alleged that the Delhi Minister's parents had written mercy petitions to cancel the death sentence of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Calling Atishi a "Dummy CM," the AAP leader said, "May God protect Delhi." She also shared a purported letter, which she claimed was the mercy petition written by Atishi's parents.
"Today is a very sad day for Delhi. Today, a woman is being made the Chief Minister of Delhi whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from hanging. Her parents wrote mercy petitions to the Honorable President to save terrorist Afzal Guru. According to them, Afzal Guru was innocent and was framed as part of a political conspiracy," Maliwal said in a post on X.
"Although Atishi Marlena is just a 'Dummy CM', still this issue is related to the security of the country. May God protect Delhi!" she added in the post.
Earlier today, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed the name of Atishi to be his successor in a meeting of party MLAs. She was subsequently elected as leader of the Delhi AAP Legislative Party, as per sources.
Addressing a legislature party meeting at his residence in the national capital, Kejriwal made the proposal and the MLAs have supported him, sources said.
Kejriwal is expected to tender his resignation to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena today at 4:30 pm, after which Atishi is likely to take oath.
Notably, Swati Maliwal, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Aam Aadmi Party, accused Kejriwal's former aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her at the CM residence. Bibhav was arrested by the Delhi Police, but came out on bail recently.
Ever since the episode broke out, Maliwal and AAP have been at loggerheads, with the former levelling serious allegations at the party. Neither has she left the party, nor has AAP expelled her.
Earlier, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj dismissed the possibility of Delhi Chief Minister's wife Sunita Kejriwal succeeding Arvind Kejriwal.
When asked about Arvind Kejriwal's potential successor, Bharadwaj said, "I have no knowledge, whether it will be someone from the council of ministers or from among the MLAs. But we will let you know. As far as I understand the politics of Arvind Kejriwal, I don't think it will be Sunita Kejriwal. She is not interested."
On Saturday, Kejriwal announced that he would resign and would not resume as the CM until the people of Delhi declared him "honest." He has also called for advancing polls in the national capital to November this year, ahead of the scheduled February elections.
Kejriwal stated that if re-elected by the public, it would serve as a "certificate" of his honesty. He added that he would push for early elections, alongside those in Maharashtra.
The announcement by the 54-year-old leader came two days after he was released from the Tihar jail after being granted bail by the Supreme Court in a corruption case related to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam.
The apex court also imposed certain conditions on Kejriwal's release, including that he must refrain from making public comments about the case and must attend all hearings before the trial court unless exempt.
