Delhi: DCW chief Swati Maliwal resigns after AAP nominates her for Rajya Sabha

Swati Maliwal/File pic

The Political Affairs Committee of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday announced the nomination of Delhi Commission for Women chief and senior party member Swati Maliwal for Rajya Sabha elections in Delhi. The elections are scheduled on January 19. After the AAP's announcement, Maliwal later on Friday tendered her resignation, officials said.

While signing her resignation, she became emotional and hugged her colleagues before leaving the office located at the Vikas Bhawan in ITO, PTI reported.

Swati Maliwal is a women's rights activist and has been associated with various campaigns and movements aimed at combating violence against women. She has been advocating for stricter laws and promoting gender equality.

Before joining as Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, Maliwal worked as the advisor to the Chief Minister of Delhi on public grievances. She was a also core member of the Indian Against Corruption movement.

Meanwhile, AAP has also re-nominated three of its members - Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta and Narain Dass Gupta for the second term in the Upper House of the Parliament. They will be retiring on January 27.

A Delhi court on Thursday, meanwhile, allowed party leader Sanjay Singh to sign re-nomination documents from jail. Sanjay Singh, a senior AAP leader is an accused in a money laundering case related to the Excise policy case. He was arrested on October 4, 2023 by the Enforcement Directorate. His bail plea was dismissed by the trial court on December 22, 2023 and it stated that the court is of prima facie view that the case against him is genuine. Evidence shows his involvement in the alleged offence of money laundering. There are reasonable grounds for believing that he is guilty of the alleged offence of money laundering, ANI reported.

ND Gupta is the party treasurer and Sushil Gupta is the AAP President of the Haryana unit.

With the six-year term of three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi ending this month, voting to elect the new members will take place on January 19.

"Chaired by AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the committee decided to endorse two existing members for re-nomination, whereas Sushil Kumar Gupta expressed his intent to redirect his focus towards the electoral politics of Haryana," the party said.

(With inputs from agencies)