New Delhi, India

Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday (Sep 15) announced that he will resign as the Delhi Chief Minister in two days. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo was released from jail on Friday (Sep 13) and was addressing the party workers when he made the shock announcement. 

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"Two days later, I will resign as Chief Minister. I will not sit on that chair till the people announce their verdict. Elections in Delhi are months away. I got justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people's court. I will sit on the chief minister's chair only after the order of the people," Kejriwal said.

The AAP supremo said a member of the party will be named the CM after his resignation. He added that the party would go to the people and seek their support whilst demanding that elections in the national capital, scheduled for February 2025, be held in November along with the assembly election in Maharashtra. 

"The elections are supposed to be held in February. I demand elections be held in November with Maharashtra elections," he said. 

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Talking about why he didn't resign as the CM while being in jail, Kejriwal said he wanted to protect the democracy in the country. 

"I didn't resign because I wanted to protect the country's democracy. They have made a new formula -- wherever they lose, they send the CM to jail and form their government," said Kejriwal. 

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"They have registered cases against (Karnataka CM) Siddaramaiah, (Kerala CM) Pinarayi Vijayan, (West Bengal CM) Mamata didi (Banerjee). I want to appeal to non-BJP, do not resign if they register cases against you. This is their new game," he said.

Watch | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal granted bail by Supreme Court in excise policy case

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'They wanted to break the party'

Kejriwal claimed that the BJP wanted to break AAP and form its own government, However, they failed to break the party as well as his morale, the Delhi CM added. 

"They wanted to break the party, break Kejriwal's courage and morale. They have made a formula, break parties, break MLAs, send leaders to jail. They thought they would form a government in Delhi by sending Kejriwal to jail but they couldn't break our party... they couldn't even break away from the party workers," he added.

Also read | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal walks out of Tihar Jail in excise policy case

Kejriwal walked out of jail after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in connection with a money-laundering investigation relating to alleged irregularities in the excise policy case.

While Kejriwal got bail in the ED case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him on corruption-related charges, associated with the excise policy scam. 

(With inputs from agencies)