Why Swati Maliwal slammed Atishi after her Delhi win

In Saturday’s assembly election, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi won the Kalkaji seat.

She defeated Ramesh Bidhuri, a former Lok Sabha MP and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), by a margin of 3,500 votes.

After winning, she was seen dancing and rejoicing with her supporters.

The move has drawn sharp criticism, but why?

Let’s take a closer look.

Criticism

A video has surfaced on X, showing Atishi dancing and celebrating with supporters following her victory in the Kalkaji Assembly seat.

The video was shared by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, who has criticised the outgoing CM for celebrating her win despite her party failing to come to power for the third term.

“What kind of shameless display is this? The party lost, all the big leaders lost, and Atishi Marlena is celebrating like this?” she wrote.

ये कैसा बेशर्मी का प्रदर्शन है ? पार्टी हार गई, सब बड़े नेता हार गये और Atishi Marlena ऐसे जश्न मना रही हैं ?? pic.twitter.com/zbRvooE6FY

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) February 8, 2025

As the AAP drew closer to loss yesterday, Maliwal posted a painting of Draupadi’s cheerharan (disrobing) scene from the epic Mahabharata.

Editor’s Picks

1

Could AAP have won Delhi if it fought the polls with Congress? 2

Modi-led BJP shocks Kejriwal's AAP in Delhi: From 8 seats in 2020 to a landslide in 2025

The former head of the Delhi Commission for Women has been speaking out more often about her discontent with the party’s leadership.

pic.twitter.com/kig39RQYmD

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) February 8, 2025

She also lambasted Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday for his “extreme arrogance” and claimed that the National Capital was in ruins because of the contaminated water that was getting to homes.

Last week, Maliwal had been detained by Delhi Police for protesting outside Kejriwal’s residence and calling for the government to take action on the Yamuna River’s dirty water.

Earlier, she had made grave accusations against Kejriwal, saying that he was responsible for his aide Bibhav Kumar’s assault on her last year.

Atishi’s victory

After a fierce battle, Atishi won 52,154 votes and defeated Ramesh Bidhuri of the BJP by a margin of 3,521 votes, retaining the Kalkaji seat.

Bidhuri’s early lead kept the race suspenseful and raised fears that the AAP may lose again.

In the subsequent counting rounds, Atishi was able to reverse the trend and give her party one of the difficult wins.

Congress pick Alka Lamba was a distant third in the race.

In her media appearance earlier in the day, Atishi thanked her campaign team and the people of Kalkaji.

“I thank the people of Kalkaji for showing trust in me. I congratulate my team who worked against ‘baahubal’. We accept the people’s mandate. I have won, but this is not a time to celebrate – it is a time to continue our fight against the BJP’s dictatorship and hooliganism,” she said.

In September 2024, Atishi took the oath of office as chief minister of Delhi when Arvind Kejriwal resigned, being the youngest person to do so aged 43.

Atishi’s political career has been based on grassroots action and policy advocacy. In 2013, she became a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and helped shape its policy.

She played a significant part in the Madhya Pradesh Jal Satyagraha campaign in 2015, supporting activist Alok Agarwal in the battle for water rights.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Atishi faced her first significant electoral challenge when she ran from East Delhi but lost to BJP’s Gautam Gambhir.

She returned with a resounding victory in 2020, winning the Kalkaji assembly seat by a margin of more than 11,000 votes.

The only survivors of the AAP

Notably, Atishi is among a few AAP leaders who won the elections.

Senior leaders, including AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Satyendar Jain, and Durgesh Pathak, suffered crushing defeat in the polls.

Several others—Ministers Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain and senior leader Amanatullah Khan—have managed to retain their seats.

By a margin of 18,994 votes, Gopal Rai won the seat in Babarpur with far more ease, becoming a legislator for the third time. Two popular Muslim AAP figures, Hussain and Khan, regained their seats for the third time.

Compared to the 62 seats it won in the 2020 elections, the AAP only managed to secure 22 of the 70 seats in Delhi.

Notably, AAP secured 43.57 per cent of the votes, while the BJP, making its return to power, garnered 45.56 per cent.

With a landslide 48-seat win, the BJP swept back to power in Delhi after 27 years.

With a vote share of only 6.34 per cent, Congress was unable to secure a single seat.

With inputs from agencies