Atishi Will Be Stop-Gap Delhi Chief Minister Till Arvind Kejriwal’s Return After Polls

It is Atishi and it will be Atishi who will be the next Delhi Chief Minister, to succeed Arvind Kejriwal. The ‘Marlena’ surname she dropped in 2019 when contesting the Lok Sabha election from East Delhi. Point to note, however, is Atishi will be Chief Minister only till the next assembly elections, till Arvind Kejriwal returns with another resounding mandate to rule Delhi. Till then, Atishi will be Ramayana’s ‘Bharat’ to Kejriwal’s ‘Ram’. And if ‘Modi bhakts’ shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’, they would be glorifying ‘Hanuman-bhakt’ Arvind Kejriwal.

Atishi spoke after her name for Chief Minister was announced by AAP minister Gopal Rai, and Atishi thanked “my guru Arvind Kejriwal for the huge responsibility” given to her, adding that she will be Chief Minister for the duration it will take for Arvind Kejriwal to return as Chief Minister. Atishi spoke of happiness, in the same breath as she expressed her sadness at Arvind Kejriwal quitting the post.

The spotlight would remain on Arvind Kejriwal. Atishi made this clear as she affirmed that Arvind Kejriwal would be “forever Chief Minister of Delhi.” Atishi is the only Chief Minister-elect to allude that she would be puppet Chief Minister, temporary Chief Minister and dummy Chief Minister. Her honesty and transparency shone through. Atishi will be the second woman who will be Delhi Chief Minister, after Sheila Dikshit, who ruled Delhi for 15 years.

Atishi will be Chief Minister at the most till February 2025 when the Delhi Assembly elections are scheduled to be held. The AAP wants the elections advanced to October-November this year. The AAP wants Arvind Kejriwal to return as Chief Minister of Delhi the quickest he can. AAP does not want to miss out on sympathy votes for Arvind Kejriwal, which will have an expiry date.

Atishi spoke of Arvind Kejriwal making a “big sacrifice”, and she took her status of “Caretaker CM” seriously. The tone and tenor of Atishi post-being named Chief Minister-elect was cautious. Atishi did not want to step on any landmine before she took the oath of office. Atishi called the BJP all the names she could get away with even as she painted Arvind Kejriwal as a victim of the machinations of a sly Prime Minister.

Atishi has been given the task of keeping Arvind Kejriwal’s chair warm till Arvind Kejriwal regains the Delhi aam aadmi’s trust and becomes Chief Minister again. She will also vouch for Arvind Kejriwal’s integrity and there won’t be a day gone when she will not project Arvind Kejriwal as an epitome of sacrifice, when she will not allude to the countdown for Kejriwal’s return.

“I am telling the people of Delhi not to congratulate me, don’t garland me,” Atishi said. “It is Arvind Kejriwal who made me, the daughter of an ordinary family and a first-time politician, Chief Minister!” Atishi appeared like she had her speech by rote the previous evening itself. Arvind Kejriwal is not the sort of man who waits for the legislative party to meet and come to a conclusion on who will take his place.

But the AAP legislature party met at Kejriwal’s residence to build a consensus on Atishi’s name even if nothing moves in AAP unless Kejriwal gives it a push. AAP MLAs walked out of the legislative party meeting and they weren’t doing somersaults! There was a sombre air about them, all of them praising Arvind Kejriwal and Arvind Kejriwal alone.

Whether the rest of top AAP leaders liked it or not, Atishi was Arvind Kejriwal’s choice. Atishi will be the face of the Delhi Chief Minister, but Arvind will be the soul. Atishi has her plus points, though. One, she is a hardcore Arvind Kejriwal loyalist. Two, Atishi’s gender is important to get women voters on AAP’s side. Three, Atishi has loads of ministerial experience with the multiple portfolios she managed after Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was jailed.

People talk of how Manish Sisodia “practically groomed” Atishi. Also, unlike Rabri Devi, Atishi is highly educated, and Oxford degree and a Rhodes Scholar. Her allegiance to Arvind Kejriwal is her biggest asset. Her mandate is to hold the Chief Minister’s chair till Arvind Kejriwal leads AAP to yet another poll victory. The AAP can’t wait for Arvind Kejriwal to make a comeback.

“Jab tak chunav nahi hota, Atishiji Chief Minister rehenge,” was on every AAP MLA’s lips. So Atishi will be watched and weighed day in and day out on the scales of “unka vyavhar”. Will that make Atishi a remote-controlled Chief Minister? Will it make her an easy target for BJP’s attacks? BJP leaders are already talking of the “communist who became Delhi CM.” How long before the media starts calling her “Puppet CM”? The stop-gap status of whoever took Arvind Kejriwal’s place was never in doubt.

In fact, Atishi herself spoke of how nobody could replace Arvind Kejriwal as the “people’s mandate was for Arvind Kejriwal, for Arvind Kejriwal alone.” Top AAP leaders were consoling themselves for not being considered for the top post with the fervent wish to see Arvind Kejriwal returning to his ‘Sheeshmahal’. The day before, Arvind Kejriwal had held one-on-one meetings with the top AAP leaders about who will take his place? AAP’s Political Affairs Committee also discussed the issue. Atishi won their confidence partly because she was the face of the AAP government, carrying out the AAP’s mandate and public duties, when Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chose to “rule Delhi from Tihar.”

In hindsight, Kejriwal couldn’t have chosen his wife Sunitha Kejriwal, because Kejriwal wants the Delhi assembly elections done and dusted with ASAP to facilitate his return and put a full-stop to the BJP’s obnoxious crosstalk, which was a daily affair. After Kejriwal’s arrest-cum-jail by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI, there was nothing left except to go to the people. There were other candidates for Kejriwal’s replacement, like Kailash Gahlot, but it was Atishi who made the cut.

Atishi is 1981-born daughter of Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi. She graduated in History from St Stephen’s College and attended Oxford University in the United Kingdom. For a while she taught History and English at the Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh before joining politics.

‘Chief Minister’ Atishi’s fight will be with Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena, who had rejected Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision that Atishi should hoist the tricolour on I-Day.

In 2019, Atishi fought the Lok Sabha election, which she lost to BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir by a margin of 4.77 lakh votes. Atishi has been with the AAP right from its foundation. (IPA Service)