Aam Aadmi Party minister Atishi will succeed Arvind Kejriwal as Delhi Chief Minister following his decision to step down from the post. The party will stake claim to form a new government under Atishi after Kejriwal resigns on Tuesday evening.
Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said an AAP delegation will meet Lt Governor VK Saxena to stake claim for the new Atishi-led government. The new cabinet members will be decided later, said the AAP Delhi convener.
Atishi currently holds multiple portfolios, including finance, education and PWD in the AAP-led Delhi government.
The AAP legislative party leaders reached the decision after Kejriwal proposed Atishi's name. All AAP MLAs stood up and accepted Atishi as the chief minister.
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Other contenders to chief minister post included Delhi ministers Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj besides speculations about Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel being picked for the position.
Kejriwal reportedly had "one-on-one" interactions with party leaders to get their feedback on his successor.
He is expected to tender his resignation during a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor at 4.30 pm on Tuesday.
Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he would resign from as Delhi chief minister, saying he would return only if the voters give him a certificate of honesty. He was released from prison on Friday after Supreme Court bench granted him bail in the liquor policy case registered by the CBI.
Earlier, there were speculations that Aam Aadmi Party may choose a Dalit or Muslim legislator for the chief minister post ahead of the assembly polls. Following this, the names of Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla, who is also the deputy speaker in the assembly, and Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar made the rounds. Around half a dozen constituencies in Delhi have sizeable minority populations while a dozen others are reserved seats.
