In a scathing attack on Swati Maliwal, who criticised Atishi's appointment as Delhi Chief Minister, the party demanded the resignation of Rajya Sabha MP. Maliwal remarked that Atishi is merely a 'dummy CM,' but stressed that the matter is related to national security.
"Swati Maliwal takes the Rajya Sabha ticket from AAP but takes 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," said senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey.
Terming it a sad day for Delhi, the AAP's Rajya Sabha MP claimed that Atishi's parents had tried to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being handed. "Today is a very sad day for Delhi. Today, a woman whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged is being made the Chief Minister of Delhi. His parents wrote mercy petitions to the Honorable President to save terrorist Afzal Guru," said Maliwal.
Atishi, who currently holds several portfolios in the Delhi government, said only a party like Aam Aadmi Party would have given a "first-time politician" like her such responsibilities. The Aam Aadmi Party said Kejriwal proposed her name as his successor in a meeting of the party's legislators, to which all MLAs unanimously agreed.