AAP leader Dilip Pandey attacked Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Tuesday for her “dummy CM” remarks on AAP leader Atishi, who is set to succeed as the Delhi Chief Minister and asked her to resign from the Rajya Sabha.
He accused Maliwal of following the BJP’s agenda and suggested her to choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket.
Taking a dig at the AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s post, Dilip Pandey said, “Understand one thing. Swati Maliwal is a person who takes the ticket to Rajya Sabha from AAP but uses the script to react from BJP. If she has even a little shame, she should resign as a Rajya Sabha MP and choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket. If she wants to be in Rajya Sabha, she should get a ticket from the BJP.”
This comes after 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 Maliwal 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 Honourable 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.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal tendered his resignation to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday evening.
Addressing the media for the first time after being elected as the leader of the Delhi AAP legislative party and the new CM, Atishi said, “First of all, I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, the AAP national convener and my guru – Arvind Kejriwal. He gave me such a huge responsibility and trusted me for it. This can be done only in AAP, only under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, that a first-time politician becomes the CM of a state.”
“I come from an ordinary family. Had I been in any other party, perhaps I would not have been given even an election ticket. But Arvind Kejriwal trusted me, made me an MLA and a minister and today gave me the responsibility of the CM. I am happy that Arvind Kejriwal placed such trust in me. But I am also sad because Delhi CM and my elder brother, Arvind Kejriwal, is resigning today. On behalf of all AAP MLAs and the 2 crore people of Delhi, I would like to say that there is just one CM of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal.”
Notably, Swati Maliwal, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from the 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.
Kejriwal was released from the Tihar jail on September 13 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.