NEW DELHI: As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislature party on Tuesday cleared the decks for Delhi minister Atishi to succeed Arvind Kejriwal as the next Chief Minister, this triggered a no-holds-barred fight and mudslinging within the party as its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal and Delhi MLA Dilip Pandey locked horns and traded barbs.
Soon after the official announcement about Atishi’s elevation, party Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal termed it a 'very sad day' for Delhi and said that she would be nothing more than a rubber stamp CM.
She also pulled no punches in slamming the AAP supremo over making someone Delhi’s CM, whose parents had sought mercy for terrorist Afzal Guru.
The unexpected attack from the party's Rajya Sabha MP, who earlier accused the party supremo Arvind Kejriwal of shielding her assaulter (CM’s PA Bihav Kumar), left the party embarrassed and red-faced.
Reacting to this, senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey accused Swati Maliwal of acting on the directions of the BJP and demanded that she must give up her Rajya Sabha membership from the party.
“Swati Maliwal is such a person who takes a Rajya Sabha ticket from AAP but follows BJP script in making political statements. If she has even an iota of shame, she should give up her RS seat from AAP, ” the party's chief whip in the Delhi Assembly told media-persons.
“If she wants to continue in Rajya Sabha, she should take the RS ticket from BJP, ” he added.
Earlier, former DCW chief Swati Maliwal mocked the party’s decision to pick Atishi as successor to Arvind Kejriwal.
Taking to X, she launched a tirade at the next Delhi CM, while digging her past.
“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 President to save terrorist Afzal Guru, ” she claimed.
“According to them, Afzal Guru was innocent and was framed as part of a political conspiracy. Although Atishi Marlena is just a 'dummy CM', still this issue is related to the security of the country. May God protect Delhi, ” she added.