In an unexpected move that shook the political circles here, AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that he would resign after two days and would demand early polls in Delhi while vowing not to sit in Chief Minister’s chair till people give him a “certificate of honesty”.
According to Kejriwal, he will hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in the next couple of days, and a party Leader will take over as the Chief Minister. The AAP convener also ruled out the possibility of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia being named Chief Minister. The announcement came two days after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the corruption case linked to Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy. The BJP hit back at the AAP supremo, terming his move a “PR exercise” and a “drama”.
The AAP national convener, who reached the party headquarters here on Sunday along with his wife Sunita to address party workers, demanded that the Delhi elections be held in November 2024 with Maharashtra, instead of February 2025. I will only sit on Chief Minister’s chair after people give me a certificate of honesty. Want to give ‘agnipariksha’ after coming out of jail,” he said. He also requested all the non-BJP State CMs to “not resign in any situation. And run the Government from jail.”
Insiders say his resignation caught many by surprise, but the decision may not be as unexpected as it seems because the Supreme Court granted him bail on Friday, but with several conditions which gives more powers to the Lieutenant Governor. The most significant of these is a restriction barring him from entering the Chief Minister’s office or signing official documents “unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governor’s sanctions.” He has also been barred from entering the Delhi secretariat.
The surprising decision has left everyone wondering who will be the next Chief Minister of Delhi. Party insiders say Sunita Kejriwal, Rakhi Birlan, Atishi, Gopal Rai and Sandeep Pathak are among the top contenders for the CM post if he resigns. The shock announcement may reap poll benefits for the AAP as Kejriwal framed his recent announcement as a moral stand, suggesting that he will not occupy the CM chair until he receives a “certificate of honesty” from the electorate.
Experts said the move is likely aimed at addressing corruption and governance under Kejriwal’s leadership and also serves to rally AAP and its supporters around a narrative of integrity and accountability. Meanwhile, choosing a CM for just a few months has often led to a power tussle and big exits later, as was witnessed in Jharkhand recently between JMM’s Hemant Soren and Champai Soren, and in Bihar in 2014 after JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar reclaimed the top seat from Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Terming it as PR stunt, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that Kejriwal has understood that his image among the people of Delhi is not of an honest leader. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that Kejriwal has no option but to resign because of the bail conditions on him by the Supreme Court. Sirsa claimed that Kejriwal sought two days’ time to resign from CM’s post to convince the party MLAs to make his wife, Sunita Kejriwal the Chief Minister of Delhi. BJP leader Kapil Mishra termed Kejriwal’s announcement as the “victory for the people” of Delhi. “In the end, the corrupt Kejriwal will have to resign. This resignation is being forced due to the Supreme Court’s strict action. The man who was adamant about running the Government from jail had to announce his resignation today. This is a major victory for the people of Delhi against corruption,” he said. BJP’s Harish Khurana questioned why the AAP Leader is creating a drama. “Why after 48 hours? He should resign today. In the past too, he has done this. People of Delhi are asking, he can’t go to the secretariat, can’t sign documents? What is the point then?”
This is not the first time he resigned. The last time Kejriwal resigned, his Government had worked only for 49 days and the decision was hailed as a masterstroke as the AAP returned with mammoth numbers nearly sweeping the polls by winning 67 of the 70 assembly seats in 2015. The BJP won only 3.
“You people might be thinking I have just come out of jail, why is he going to resign. They have raised allegations against me… They are saying that SC has put conditions on bail. After I resign, AAP will hold a high level meeting and decide a name for CM post,” Kejriwal said while addressing party workers at his new headquarters.
He said, “Despite the court giving us bail, the case will continue. I spoke to my lawyers. Till the case does not end, I will not sit on the CMs seat. After two days, I am going to resign from the post of CM. I will not sit on the CM’s seat till the people elect me and send me to the seat again.”
Kejriwal alleged that the probe agencies sent him to jail to break his spirits, and the party.
“Why did they send me to jail? It was not like I had committed any crime. They also know this. They just want to break my spirit, break my party, poach our Leaders, Ministers… send ED, CBI to torture our Leaders. But our Leaders and workers did not break. But I want to tell you today that they strengthened me by sending me to jail,” he said.
AAP convener added, “Both Sisodia and I were also stressing about this. He will also not hold any charge. We both will assume our seats when people will reelect us.” The AAP national convener said, “I will become Chief Minister and Manish Sisodia deputy CM only when people say we are honest. Kejriwal said he would hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in the next couple of days and a party Leader would take over as Chief Minister.
Alleging the BJP tried to prove him corrupt, Kejriwal said the saffron party cannot provide good schools and free electricity to people because they are corrupt. “We are honest,” he asserted.
“They slap false cases against non-BJP Chief Ministers. If they are arrested, I urge them not to resign but run the Government from jail,” the Delhi Chief Minister said. “I didn’t resign (after arrest in excise policy case) because I respect democracy and the Constitution is supreme for me,” Kejriwal said and asserted that it is only the AAP that can stand up to the BJP’s “conspiracies”.
Referring to him quitting the Chief Minister’s post in 2014 over the Jan Lokpal Bill, just 49 days after assuming power, Kejriwal said, “I resigned then for my ideals. I do not have a lust for power.”
Saying that the excise policy case would go on for long, the Chief Minister said he wanted to ask the people of Delhi whether he is honest or guilty. He asked people to vote in his favour only if they considered him honest. “For me, the BJP is not important, people are important,” he said.
“Our Leaders Satyendar Jain and Amanatullah Khan are still in jail. I hope they come out soon,” the Chief Minister told AAP workers here as he thanked God “who was with us through difficulties.”
About his time in jail, Kejriwal referred to letters written by freedom fighter Bhagat Singh while in British captivity and said, “I wrote only one letter to the Lieutenant Governor from Tihar and was issued a warning.” “Our freedom fighters were allowed meetings with colleagues but my party colleague Sandeep Pathak was not allowed to meet me in jail,” he said.
Addressing AAP workers, Kejriwal said, “I had a lot of time in jail. I read a lot of books when I was inside jail like Bhagavad Gita… Today, I bought one book written by Bhagat Singh. When he was in jail, he wrote several letters to his comrades, family, sister, his childhood friends… and the Britishers sent those letters. I also went to jail and I wrote only one letter to LG Sahab. It was August 15.”
“I wrote a letter to LG Sahab three days before the Independence Day and asked him to permit Atishi to host the Independence Day. I was given warning that if you write another letter, we will stop your meeting with family. I was thinking not even Britishers did such things,” Kejriwal said.
He said he did not resign as Chief Minister despite being arrested because he wanted to save democracy. “They have registered cases against (Karnataka Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah, (Kerala Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan, (Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata didi (Banerjee). I want to appeal to non-BJP CMs, do not resign if they register cases against you. This is their new game,” he said.
AAP had returned to power in the national Capital by sweeping Assembly elections held in February 2020. AAP won 62 of the 70 assembly seats. The BJP won 8 seats and Congress won none. AAP won a landslide victory in the 2015 elections, securing 67 of 70 seats and Kejriwal was re-elected as Chief Minister for second time. He became the CM for the third time in 2020.
