Atishi appointed Delhi Leader of Opposition, first woman to hold post
NEW DELHI,FEB 23 : In a historic development, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has been appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly. This marks the first time a woman has been chosen for this role, setting the stage for an unprecedented assembly session where a woman Leader of Opposition will engage with a woman Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Atishi’s appointment was finalized during AAP’s legislative meeting held on Sunday. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was also part of the meeting of the party’s 22 MLAs.
In a press conference, AAP’s Delhi unit convenor Gopal Rai said by consensus all AAP MLAs have chosen Atishi as the leader of the House.
MLA from Burari, Sanjeev Jha, proposed Atishi’s name as LoP and all MLAs supported the proposal, said Rai, who is also the MLA from Babarpur.
Speaking at the press conference, Atishi thanked the party chief Kejriwal and all the MLAs.
“AAP will show what a strong opposition’s role is in the House and will raise all issues with full force. AAP will ensure that BJP fulfils all its promise as the party in power. Specifically, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to provide Rs 2,500 to women of the city by March 8. We promise that we will make the Rekha Gupta-led BJP government fulfill this promise.”
Kejriwal, in a post on X, congratulated Atishi , “I congratulate Atishi ji for being elected as Leader of AAP in the House. AAP will play the role of constructive opposition in the interest of people of Delhi.”
The recent Delhi Assembly elections, conducted on February 5, witnessed the BJP securing a decisive victory by winning 48 out of 70 seats, thereby returning to power in the national capital after 27 years. The AAP managed to secure 22 seats, while the Congress party did not win any seats.
Atishi retained her Kalkaji constituency seat against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri, but several top AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, lost the elections.
The first session of the Delhi Assembly will begin on February 24.
In the three-day session, the ruling BJP government has said that pending CAG reports against the performance of the previous AAP government will be tabled in the House.
-PTI
