By The Sampadak Express
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, who was the party’s winning candidate in the Delhi Assembly elections, submitted her resignation as Chief Minister to Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena on Sunday, February 9, a day after AAP faced a crushing defeat in the high-stakes polls.
Atishi, who retained her Kalkaji seat by defeating BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri with a margin of 3,521 votes, handed her resignation to Saxena at Raj Niwas, as confirmed by officials.
In the February 5 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a stunning return to power in Delhi after over 26 years, securing 48 out of the 70 assembly seats. This was a significant blow to the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, which could only manage 22 seats—far from its 2020 tally of 62 and the majority mark of 36. The Congress party failed to secure any seats in the election.
The BJP is expected to stake a claim to form the government next week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from a foreign visit, according to party leaders.
Atishi had taken office as Chief Minister in September 2024, after her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal resigned amid corruption allegations.
The February 2025 election also saw a shift in the representation of women candidates. Five women candidates, including Atishi, secured victories in this election, a drop from the eight women elected in 2020. Atishi was the only woman candidate from AAP to win this time. The BJP, on the other hand, saw a stronger performance with four women candidates—Rekha Gupta from Shalimar Bagh, Poonam Sharma from Wazirpur, Neelam Pahelwan from Najafgarh, and Shikha Roy from Greater Kailash—emerging victorious.
Out of the 699 total candidates in the 2025 election, 96 were women, up from 76 in 2020. Among the major parties, the BJP and AAP each fielded nine women candidates, while the Congress fielded seven. All three parties increased their representation of women compared to the 2020 Assembly polls.
