Atishi, AAP leaders arrive at Kejriwal's residence ahead of swearing-in ceremony

New Delhi [India], September 21 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister designate Atishi arrived at the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National convenor Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the oath-taking ceremony to be held at Raj Niwas on Saturday. Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Gopal Rai also arrived at the AAP national convener’s residence.

The swearing-in ceremony is set to take place shortly.

Dilip Pandey, Delhi Assembly's Chief Whip hit out at the BJP alleging that the party had an agenda to finish AAP completely by putting their leaders behind bars.

"The whole nation saw how BJP has misused ED and CBI. When they couldn't buy out or break AAP, they set out to finish AAP through false allegations and cases against each and every neta of AAP. You saw how without any evidence each and every neta was put behind bars," said Pandey.

Earlier on Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced that Atishi will take oath as the new Chief Minister of Delhi on September 21.

President Droupadi Murmu had appointed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi as the Chief Minister of National Capital Territory Delhi, effective from the date she is to be sworn in. The President also accepted AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal's resignation as the CM, but stated he will continue to hold office till Atishi is sworn-in.

"The President is pleased to accept the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, National Capital Territory of Delhi, along with his Council of Ministers, with immediate effect. He will, however, continue to act as the Chief Minister, National Capital Territory of Delhi, till the new Chief Minister is sworn in," the official statement read.

"The President is pleased to appoint Atishi as the Chief Minister, National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date she is sworn in," it added.

Atishi, who had staked her claim to the position, expressed mixed feelings about the change in leadership. She said that she is happy about the trust placed in her by outgoing CM Arvind Kejriwal but is also sad that he has resigned from his post. Speaking to the media, she added that she would work hard to bring Kejriwal back as Chief Minister after the upcoming assembly elections.

"First of all, I would like to thank the popular CM of Delhi, 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," Atishi said.

At 43, Atishi will become the third woman Chief Minister of Delhi, following in the footsteps of Sushma Swaraj and Sheila Dikshit. A prominent leader of AAP, Atishi has played a key role in improving education in Delhi's government-run schools during her time as an advisor to the former Education Minister, Manish Sisodia. (ANI)