Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, was granted bail by the Supreme Court (SC) a few days back, with a caveat that he would not sign any document or go to the CM office, and will take no part in administrating the affairs of Delhi.
Yesterday, ie 15/9/2024 Arvind Kejriwal announced his plans to resign following his release from Tihar jail. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo has also sought early polls in the national capital and vowed to avoid the CM chair until he was given a “certificate of honesty” by the people of Delhi. The AAP is asking for snap election in Delhi alongside with Maharashtra Assembly in November 2024. This move is similar to what he did in 2014 after spending 49 days as CM of Delhi. This move could prove to be master stroke but there are major chances that this could backfire also.
What did Kejriwal say in his public address “ Today I have come to ask the public whether you consider me honest or criminal.. I will resign from the post of CM two days from today and ask people whether I am honest. Till they respond, I won’t sit on CM’s chair.. I will only sit on CM’s chair after people give me a certificate of honesty. I want to give ‘agnipariksha’ (trial by fire) after coming out of jail.”
He further added that “ he had been sent to jail because their goal was to break AAP and form government in Delhi. But our party did not break. I did not resign from the jail because I wanted to protect the constitution.”
Now for AAP, selection of a new and temporary leader can however prompt and lead to dissent in the party ranks. A recent example is the elevation of Champai Soren as Jharkhand CM, following the arrest of then CM and JMM party chief Hemant Soren. After Hemant Soren came out of jail on bail, Champai Soren was humiliated by the party members and Hemant was reinstalled as CM. Recently Champai Soren left the JMM party and joined BJP.
Kejriwal and his Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, who was also in jail for almost 18 months in the Delhi liquor excise scam case, have insisted that they will only reprise their roles when people say we are honest. The AAP will be therefore forced to choose a relative outsider as its Delhi CM for next few months, before the next assembly election due in Feb 2025.
The names of Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Delhi Ministers Atishi and Gopal Rai have been doing rounds as a probable replacement since the announcement was made. The party could also opt for a ‘surprise’ candidate as part of its election strategy, and the possibility of Dalit or Muslim legislature being nominated for CM’s post, for the next few months.
Here are the comments by two other main political parties of the Delhi state.
1 BJP– As per BJP the statement by Kejriwal that he would resign as the CM of Delhi was nothing but a “confession of his crime” and that he had been forced to do so as the SC, by granting him conditional bail in Delhi excise policy case, restricted his powers as CM. As per the spoke person of BJP-the resignation is drama, he is still the CM. If he wanted, he could have called for a cabinet meeting to recommend dissolution of the Assembly. Why he is demanding early polls and playing emotional card. As per BJP, the people had already given verdict long ago when they did not respond to the “ Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se” campaign during the Lok Sabha elections. The people of Delhi were earlier also asking Kejriwal for an account of the “Sheesh Mahal”, (the CM Kejriwal’s residence) that he built with public money. ‘If Kejriwal is so honest, he should open the Sheesh Mahal to the public and media and show where all the funds came from.”
2 Congress– The Congress party’s spoke person called the resignation a “political drama” and said Kejriwal should have resigned six months ago, as he had lost the moral right to hold the post. The Congress and AAP had a tie up in the Lok Sabha election (as both are part of INDI alliance) but since then the Congress has been attacking the AAP over issues pertaining to Delhi. “If Kejriwal had resigned six months ago, the people of Delhi would have been saved a lot of agony. A new CM should be appointed as soon as possible. When Kejriwal could promptly sack Manish Sisodia as Deputy CM following his arrest in connection with liquor scam, and Satyender Jain as Minister when he was jailed, he should have resigned too when he was put behind bars, but clung to CM post so that his family could live in palatial official residence.”
In my opinion, next few months will be very tough for Arvind Kejriwal and AAP, because both BJP and Congress are going to exploit Kejriwal and his other Ministers’ involvement in the liquor excise scam, and they all are on conditional bail, which means courts have accepted their involvements in this scam.
Wait and watch for the future development in this matter.
Waiting for your feedback on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
16th September 2024