Former Delhi Chief Minister and Kalkaji MLA Atishi has been appointed as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly. The decision was made during a meeting of AAP MLAs on Sunday. This is the first time in history that a woman has been chosen for the role of Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly. The upcoming session of the Delhi Assembly will be the only one in the country where a woman Leader of Opposition will face a woman Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta for the first time in history.

Atishi was unanimously chosen by the AAP MLAs to be the Leader of Opposition during AAP’s legislative party meeting. Her name was proposed as a strong female face to take on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Atishi’s elevation as the Leader of Opposition is significant given the fact that top AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Saurabh Bharadwaj lost from their respective seats in the recently-held election.

The party MLAs and senior leaders met at the party office at around 1 pm, days after the party was voted out of power in the Capital. Atishi was chosen as the Leader of Opposition at AAP’s legislative meeting on Sunday where MLA Sanjeev Jha proposed her name for the key post, and seconded by Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar and Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh. During the meeting, newly elected AAP MLAs also discuss the agenda they will raise in the first session of the Assembly. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and the party’s 22 attended the meeting.

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.”...In challenging times, Atishi has served the people of Delhi as the CM...AAP will fulfil the responsibility of a healthy opposition...” Rai said. AAP Rajya Sabha MP and the party’s national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak was the observer at the meeting.

Speaking at the press conference after being chosen as LoP, Atishi said, “I thank the convenor Arvind Kejriwal and the MLAs for reposing faith in me. The people of Delhi have decided that we will sit in the Opposition this time. As the opposition there are two main things we will focus on. First is to ensure that the promises made by the BJP are fulfilled, especially its promise to give Rs 2,500 per month to the women of Delhi… The second is to ensure that the work that the AAP government did is not stopped or discontinued. Only a few days ago, the new health minister said Mohalla Clinics will be shut… We will make sure that the people of Delhi do not suffer and we will fight for them,” she said.

Asked about the BJP’s second cabinet decision to table 14 pending CAG reports in the first Assembly session, Atishi accused the BJP of “spreading misconception,” saying she had sent the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) reports to Delhi assembly speaker before the election. “As chief minister, I sent the CAG reports to the Speaker before the elections, in a sealed envelope. They would have been presented in the first session of the new House in any case. The BJP is spreading the misconception that they have decided to present the report, which is completely false. We firmly believe that whatever is in the CAG report should be presented before the people of Delhi,” she added.

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and national convenor Arvind Kejriwal Sunday congratulated the newly-elected Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, 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,” he wrote over a post on X.

The Delhi Assembly session will begin on Monday. The newly-elected Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will take oath on February 25, while the 14 pending CAG reports will be tabled the next day. The nod to table the CAG reports, which were pending since the tenure of the previous AAP government, was given by Rekha Gupta in the first Cabinet meeting she chaired after taking oath as the Delhi Chief Minister.

Returning to power after 27 years, the BJP defeated major AAP bigwigs including Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, Manish Sisodia in Jangpura, and Saurabh Bharadwaj in Greater Kailash. The BJP ousted AAP from power in Delhi, winning 48 of the 70 seats in the assembly polls held on February 5.