Kejriwal told his party workers at the AAP headquarters on Sunday that he will not sit on the chief minister’s chair until people give him a “certificate of honesty”. He said he will step down after two days and someone else from the party will take over as chief minister after the legislature party meeting. He ruled out the possibility of making former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia his successor. He was accompanied by his wife Sunita.
Along with him, the entire cabinet will also have to resign. The new leader of the legislative party will stake claim to form the government and select a new council of ministers who will take oath of office. After this, majority will have to be proved in the House.
Kejriwal said that he will become the Chief Minister and Manish Sisodia will become the Deputy Chief Minister only when people say that we are honest.
,Delhi elections It is scheduled in February (2025), but I demand that the elections be held in November along with Maharashtra…I will sit on the CM’s chair only if people give me a certificate of honesty. I want to undergo the Agni Pariksha (fire test) after coming out of jail,” he said, referring to the test that Lord Rama and Sita underwent after returning from their exile.
However, experts claim that Kejriwal cannot demand early elections without recommending dissolution of the Assembly.
Kejriwal: If chief ministers are arrested, I urge them to run the government from jail
If this happens, the Election Commission will have to decide whether elections can be held early or not. Assembly elections are to be held in February 2025.
Kejriwal alleged that the BJP has tried to prove him corrupt. He claimed that the saffron party cannot provide good schools and free electricity to the people because they are corrupt. “We are honest,” he said. “They file false cases against non-BJP chief ministers. If the chief minister is arrested, I urge him not to resign but run his government from jail,” he said.
He said, “I did not resign (after my arrest in the excise policy case) because I respect democracy and for me the Constitution is supreme.” Referring to his decision to quit as chief minister in 2014, just 49 days after assuming power, over the Jan Lokpal Bill, the chief minister said, “I resigned then for my ideals. I do not have any greed for power.”
He said the issue of excise policy will last for a long time. He said he would ask the people of Delhi to vote for him only if they consider him honest. He said, “For me BJP is not important, people are important.”
“Our leaders Satyendra Jain and Amanatullah Khan are still in jail. I hope they will come out soon,” he said, thanking God “who is with us in our difficult times”. Speaking about his time in prison, Kejriwal referred to the 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 I was issued a warning.”
He said, “Our freedom fighters were allowed to meet their colleagues, but my party colleague Sandeep Pathak was not allowed to meet me in jail.”
Kejriwal said that some people are saying that Supreme Court He said, “In the last 10 years, these people have left no stone unturned in imposing conditions. The LG imposed many conditions and the central government took away my power by implementing one law after another, but I did not let any hindrance come in your work. These conditions do not become an obstacle for us.”
Party sources said the CM will leave his official residence at Flag Staff Road, which has been a bone of contention with the BJP accusing Kejriwal of spending excessively on its construction. This has virtually ruled out the possibility of his wife Sunita Kejriwal succeeding him.
However, the BJP and the Congress said Kejriwal had resigned under compulsion and was trying to show morality. Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said Kejriwal would neither be able to go to office nor sign any files due to restrictions imposed on his functioning by the Supreme Court. His resignation will allow him to focus on campaigning for the upcoming Haryana elections while the party tries to make inroads in the Delhi polls early next year.
Sources said there are several schemes and policies, such as the Mahila Samman Nidhi scheme – which promises a financial grant of Rs 1,000 to women above the age of 18 – dearness allowance for daily wage labourers and the new electric vehicle policy, among others that the AAP government wants to introduce. And the party fears the LG will question Kejriwal’s calling of important meetings and access to official documents, which could lead to a deadlock in governance.
