'May God protect Delhi': Swati Maliwal targets Atishi over family's support to Afzal Guru

Dissident Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Swati Maliwal has slammed the party's decision to name Atishi as the next Chief Minister of Delhi.

Flagging Atishi's parents' support for convicted terrorist Afzal Guru, Maliwal said that it was a sad day for Delhi that such a person has been named as the chief minister whose family held Guru as innocent. She further called Atishi a "dummy CM".

In a post in Hindi on X (formerly Twitter), Maliwal said, "Even though Atishi Marlena is a 'dummy CM', the matter is still related to the nation's security. May God protect Delhi."

Maliwal posted a clip of Atishi's mother, Tripta Wahi, accusing the authorities of making Guru a "scapegoat".

The AAP on Tuesday decided to name Atishi as the next CM of Delhi. The decision came two days after Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced he would resign in the coming days and sought early elections. He made the announcement after walking out of jail on bail in the Delhi excise policy case.

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Guru was a Kashmiri separatist and terrorist who was sentenced to death for his role in the 2001 Parliament attack. He was hanged till death in 2013.

On December 13, 2001, five terrorists stormed the Parliament complex and killed six security personnel, two parliament staffers, and one journalist before being gunned down by security personnel.

In the Parliament attack case, five people were arrested by the investigators: Prof. SAR Geelani of University of Delhi's Zaki Hussain College, Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru, Shaukat Hussain, and Afsan Guru. Geelani, Guru, and Shaukat were sentenced to death in 2002. The next year, however, the Delhi High Court acquitted Geelani. In 2005, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Guru but commuted Shaukat's sentence to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

In 2013, Guru was hanged till death after a dramatic campaign by a battery of top activists and academics. They sought repeated intervention in the Supreme Court and approached the President for mercy. Atishi's mother, Tripta, was among those who publicly protested against Guru's execution.

In a public letter to the President of India, which Tripta also signed, they said Guru's "guilt was never established beyond reasonable doubt" — despite the Supreme Court upholding the conviction and death sentence.

Maliwal and the AAP leadership have been at odds since she was allegedly assaulted by Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar.

In May, Maliwal alleged that Kumar assaulted her at Kejriwal's residence. Based on her complaint, the Delhi Police filed an FIR against Kumar and arrested him. He is currently out on bail. The AAP leadership, including Atishi, dismissed the allegations and alleged that Maliwal's case was a political conspiracy at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).