Sisodia to meet Kejriwal today; Atishi, Gopal Rai and Sunita Kejriwal frontrunners for the Delhi CM post

After securing a bail from the Supreme Court on Friday, post spending 5 months in Delhi's Tihar jail due to excise policy graft case, AAP honcho Arvind Kejriwal, in a surprising turn of events, announced his resignation from the post of Delhi's Chief Minister (CM) within the next 2 days. Calling it his Agnipariksha, he vowed only to return when the people of Delhi give him a "certificate of honesty" and "vote him back to power", Kejriwal is set to meet his deputy Manish Sisodia at his official residence at Civil Lines today, and discuss potential names for the next CM. Kejriwal also ruled out any possibility of Sisodia taking his place in the meantime.

The move puts a dampener on AAP's plan to pitch Kejriwal as a candidate for Haryana elections, which are slated to take place next month, and for Delhi elections, scheduled for early next year.

This will be the first time that Sisodia and Kejriwal will be meeting, ever since Kejriwal announced his decision. Fellow party members Gopal Rai, Atishi Marlena and Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal are being seen as strong contenders for the position. Upon his release, Kejriwal also demanded that Delhi elections, originally set to be held in February 2025, be preponed to November this year, along with Maharashtra polls.

The last assembly elections were held in Delhi in February 2020, where AAP secured 62 seats, and the BJP won on just 8 seats. The current term of the assembly is expiring on February 11, 2025. Many peg Atishi to be the next CM till Kejriwal is re-elected, given she already leads multiple important departments within the Delhi government, which include education, finance, law etc.

Along with Gopal Rai, AAP members Kailash Gehlot, Imran Hussain and Saurabh Bhardwaj are also being considered for the position. Sunita Kejriwal, who took the reins of mobilizing AAP and addressing the media in the absence of her husband, will also be a key candidate to watch out for.

If Atishi or Sunita assume the post of CM, it will be for the first time in over a decade that the capital will have a female CM, after Sheila Dixit. Notably, Dixit was also Delhi's longest serving CM, holding her office for about 15 years. Kejriwal follows as a close second, holding his office for about 9 years till 2024, ever since assuming the post of CM in 2015.