Reacting to which, Delhi unit of the BJP attacked Aam Aadmi Party's chief minister-designate Atishi, saying her parents had signed a mercy petition submitted to the President for Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
"We will now have not just a corrupt government but an anti-national government operating in Delhi," BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said.
Arvind Kejriwal pushed Delhi "to anarchy after announcing Atishi Marlena's name. There's a reason behind it. A mercy petition was submitted to the President for Afzal Guru and her parents signed it," he alleged.
Hitting back, AAP's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh alleged that the BJP is the "biggest anti-national in India".
The BJP in Jammu and Kashmir had formed a government with the PDP that called Afzal Guru a "martyr", he claimed.
As the AAP legislature party elected Kejriwal's handpicked successor Atishi as its leader following his resignation as CM, the Bharatiya Janata Party said changing the face of the chief minister will not change the character of the Aam Aadmi Party.
BJP leaders said AAP would have to answer the corruption allegations against its government.
"'Chehara badalane se AAP ka charitra nahi badalega' (changing the face does not change AAP's character). Considering Kejriwal's 10 years of corruption, whoever is the CM will have to tell people how they looted the people of Delhi," Sachdeva said.
"They have looted in every department and now the people will give them an answer for that loot," he said.
By admitting that Kejriwal "will remain the real CM", Atishi has revealed herself to be a "dummy" CM, Sachdeva further alleged.
Earlier we had a chief minister operating from jail who then became a chief minister on bail. Now it is being said that a proxy chief minister, a lame duck, is being brought at the helm," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonwalla said in response to Kejriwal's comments.
The AAP leaders have said that the chair of the Delhi chief minister belongs to Arvind Kejriwal and it will remain so, he alleged.
"This means the face will change, not the character…From de-jure chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal will become a de-facto chief minister," Poonwalla said.
He alleged that there is corruption in every department under Atishi. "There is education scam, water scam, DJB (Delhi Jal Board) scam, 'Sheesh Mahal' scam and various other scams," the BJP leader alleged.
"Atishi was the AAP's incharge in Goa where money made through the liquor scam was used" in the state assembly elections, he claimed.
Atishi as a minister in the Kejriwal government held multiple portfolios, including education, Delhi Jal Board, Public Works Department and Finance.
This is a very sad day for Delhi because it is going to have a chief minister-a woman whose family fought for the terrorist Afzal Guru in order to save him from capital punishment, said a disgruntled AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal.
"Her parents sent a mercy petition to the President of India several times that Guru should not be hanged, he is innocent and has become the victim of a political conspiracy," Maliwal alleged.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was released from jail on bail on Friday, announced on Sunday that he would resign from the post and would only return at the helm if people give him a certificate of honesty.
He also wants assembly polls to be held in November. The term of Delhi Assembly expires on February 23.
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