AAP demands Swati Maliwal's resignation as Rajya Sabha MP over her remarks on Atishi

Party leader Dilip Pandey said Maliwal reads out the BJP's script despite being sent to the Rajya Sabha by the AAP.

"Swati Maliwal takes Rajya Sabha ticket from the AAP but takes the script to react from BJP. If she has even a little shame, she should resign as a Rajya Sabha MP and choose the path to Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket," said Pandey.

The demand for her resignation follows a massive rift between Maliwal and the party that was initially sparked by her allegation that Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar had assaulted her at the Chief Minister's house.

On Tuesday, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal stepped down as the Delhi Chief Minister, paving the way for his party colleague, Atishi, to take over.

Two days after announcing her decision to quit, Kejriwal formally stepped down handing over his resignation letter to Governor Vinay Saxena.

Atishi was elected as the legislative party leader in the morning after the party supremo proposed her name. She has already met the Governor and staked a claim to form the government.

However, AAP's selection of Atishi for the top role drew harsh remarks from Maliwal. She termed it a sad day for Delhi and claimed that her parents had tried to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged.

"Today is a very sad day for Delhi. Today, a woman whose family fought a long battle to save terrorist Afzal Guru from being hanged is being made the Chief Minister of Delhi. Her parents wrote mercy petitions to the Honorable President to save terrorist Afzal Guru," Maliwal said in an online post.

"Today, Atishi will become the CM but we all know that she will be only a 'dummy CM'. Still, this is a major issue because she will be the CM and this matter is directly linked to the security of the country as well as Delhi. God save the people of Delhi from such a CM," she said.

Later she also defended her remarks saying: "Being an MP from Delhi, it is my responsibility to raise the voice of Delhi and the country. It will never happen that my Delhi terrorist Afzal lover falls into my hands and I sit quietly!"

"You can say whatever you want against me, but you will have to answer for your links with terrorist Afzal," Maliwal added.

Atishi hasn't reacted to the remarks yet.

Maliwal's ties with the AAP worsened after the March episode that saw Delhi Police arrest Bibhav Kumar's arrest. She had even accused the AAP of victim-shaming her.