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Atishi resigns as Delhi CM day after AAP's crushing defeat
Atishi was among the 22 AAP candidates who won in the Delhi assembly election. She retained Kalkaji seat, defeating BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and party' winning candidate in Delhi assembly election Atishi handed over her resignation as chief minister to Lt Governor V K Saxena on Sunday, February 9, day after AAP's debacle in the high-stakes poll in which it was hoping to hit a hattrick.
Atishi, who retained her Kalkaji seat defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ramesh Bidhuri by a margin of 3,521 votes, handed over her resignation to Saxena at Raj Niwas, officials confirmed. Follow Delhi election live updates
The BJP returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years, winning 48 of the 70 assembly seats and restricting the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP to 22 seats, much lower from its 2020 election tally of 62 and the majority mark of 36.
The Congress, meanwhile, drew a blank in the polls held on February 5.
The BJP is expected to stake claim to power next week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from a foreign visit, party leaders cited in a news agency report said.
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Atishi took oath as chief minister in September last year after AAP convenor and her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal resigned from the post amid corruption allegations against him.
Five women candidates, including outgoing chief minister Atishi won in the Delhi Assembly poll 2025, down from eight in the 2020 elections.
Atishi is the only woman candidate of AAP who won this time.
The BJP's four women candidates -- Rekha Gupta from Shalimar Bagh, Poonam Sharma from Wazirpur, Neelam Pahelwan from Najafgarh, and Shikha Roy from Greater Kailash -- have emerged as victorious.
Of the total 699 candidates in the fray this time, 96 were women. Five years earlier, 672 candidates fought the assembly election and of them 76 were women. Eight women candidates had won in the 2020 assembly poll.
Among the three main political parties in the elections, the BJP and AAP had fielded nine women candidates each whereas the Congress had seven women nominees. All three parties fielded more women candidates this time than the 2020 Assembly polls.
