Two days after he was granted bail and released from jail after six months, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced his shock resignation from the top post at a party meeting this afternoon. “Two days later, I will resign as Chief Minister. I will not sit on that chair until the people announce their verdict. Elections in Delhi will be held in a few months. I got justice from the court of law, now I will get it from the people's court. I will sit on the Chief Minister's chair only after the people order it,” he said.
“I want to ask the people of Delhi: Is Kejriwal innocent or guilty? If I have worked, vote for me,” he said, adding that a meeting of AAP MPs will be held in the next two days to elect the new Chief Minister of the national capital.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that a party member will be made Chief Minister after his resignation. He said that he would meet the people and seek their support. Kejriwal also demanded that the elections in the national capital, scheduled for February, be held in November along with the elections in Maharashtra.
In his address to AAP workers, Mr Kejriwal launched a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, saying it was more dictatorial than the British one.
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 members: don't resign if they register cases against you. This is their new game,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal said he had also spoken to former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on the issue. Sisodia was also recently granted bail in connection with corruption allegations surrounding Delhi's now-scrapped liquor policy. “I spoke to Manish, he has also said that he will take charge only after people say that we are honest. My fate and Sisodia's fate are now in his hands,” he said.
Responding to this shocking development, BJP's Harish Khurana wondered why the AAP leader is creating a drama. “Why after 48 hours? He should resign today. He has done so in the past too. People of Delhi are asking: can't he go to the secretariat, can't he sign documents? What's the point then?” Asked if the BJP was prepared for early elections, Khurana said, “We are prepared, either today or tomorrow. We will come back to power in Delhi after 25 years.”
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