Barkha Shukla Singh takes a dig at AAP before leaving Delhi Commission for Women post

NEW DELHI: Former Congress MLA Barkha Shukla Singh vacated the position of Delhi Commission for Women chairperson on Friday after completing her tenure, but not without taking a dig at the AAP government. She was former chief minister Sheila Dikshit's choice for the post in 2007 and 2012. Delhi government has appointed 30-year-old Swati Maliwal, advisor (grievances) to the CM, as the new DCW chief.

In a raging battle with the Kejriwal government over complaints linked to AAP MLAs, Singh on her last day at work alleged that her experience over the last five months was nothing short of "mental torture" and the Kejriwal government was "anti-women." Singh had continued to hold charge as DCW chief citing legal provisions even after Congress and she lost the 2013 assembly polls.

Singh challenged the claim that she was attacking AAP due to political reasons. "Whether it was the case involving Somanth Bharti's midnight raid, the one involving Kumar Vishwas or the domestic violence complaint by Bharti's wife, the complaints came to DCW and we only acted on them," she said.

On Friday, Delhi government issued a notification stating: "The government hereby reconstitutes DCW consisting of Swati Maliwal, chairperson and Promila Gupta, Farheen Malik and Sarika Chaudhary as its members. The chairperson and members of the commission shall hold the office with effect from July 18 for three years as provided under Section 4 of DCW Act, 1994."

Maliwal is the sixth DCW chief. An RTI activist and youngest core team member of India Against Corruption movement, she has been associated with Kejriwal's work at Parivartan with the marginalized and his scrutiny of the concept of Swaraj since 2006. The Delhi chief minister has clearly chosen to put his trust for the coveted post in a confidante.