Atishi to be new Delhi chief minister, Kejriwal to tender resignation in evening
New Delhi (PTI): Senior AAP leader Atishi will be Delhi’s new chief minister, the party unanimously agreed on Tuesday after Arvind Kejriwal proposed her name as his successor in a meeting of the party's legislators.
The 43-year-old who holds 14 portfolios, including finance, education and revenue and was amongst those holding the fort while Kejriwal was in jail, will be the third woman chief minister of Delhi after Congress’ Sheila Dikshit and BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.
Kejriwal will meet Lt Governor V K Saxena at Raj Niwas at 4.30 pm to tender his resignation as chief minister, paving the way for Atishi's appointment as his successor.
"He will inform the LG about Atishi being the new leader of AAP's legislative party in the Delhi Assembly," a party leader said.
After the resignation, a delegation of AAP legislators will meet the lt governor to stake claim for formation of a new government led by Atishi, party leader Gopal Rai told reporters.
Though Atishi was a frontrunner for the post and considered close to both Kejriwal and his second in command Manish Sisodia, the speculation over who would succeed him was intense. Ending the debate, Kejriwal proposed the name of the Kalkaji legislator at a meeting of the AAP legislative party and it was accepted unanimously.
Party leaders said the Delhi Assembly will be convened on September 26 and 27.
In a surprise decision two day after he was released on bail from Tihar Jail, Kejriwal on Sunday announced that he would resign as chief minister and would only return if people give him a "certificate of honesty" in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. He also sought early polls in the city.
The assembly's term ends on February 23 next year and elections are expected to be held sometime early February.
Atishi, given credit for many of the AAP government's achievements in the education sector, was inducted into the Delhi cabinet in March last year and has been playing a crucial role both in the government as well as the party when AAP convener Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in connection with the excise policy case.
The daughter of Delhi University professors Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, Atishi did her schooling from Springdales School and went on to graduate from St Stephen’s College. She did her Masters from Oxford University.
The BJP on Monday said Kejriwal's decision to resign as chief minister was borne out of compulsion and not driven by principle. The saffron party described his move as "drama" and a "confession of crime" and wondered if he had offered to quit because of infighting in AAP.
Dikshit was Delhi's longest serving chief minister of Delhi, holding office for 15 years from 1998 to 2013. Swaraj ruled Delhi for 52 days from October 12, 1998.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
