‘Why not today?’: BJP, Congress slam Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal over resignation ‘gimmick’

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress (INC) have called Arvind Kejriwal'sannouncement to resign from the postof Delhi chief minister in the next 48 hours as PR and gimmick.

Addressing his party workers on Sunday (Sep 15), two days after being released on bail from the Tihar Jail, Kejriwal made the shocking announcement, whilst calling for early elections.

"This is a PR stunt by Arvind Kejriwal. He has understood that his image among the people of Delhi is not of an honest leader but of a corrupt leader, today Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is known across the country as a corrupt party," saidBJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari.

"Under his PR stunt, he wants to restore his image. He wants to apply the Sonia Gandhi model, where she made Manmohan Singh a dummy Prime Minister and ran the government from behind the scenes," he added.

BJP's Harish Khurana further questioned why the AAP leader was not resigning today instead of creating the '48-hour' 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?"

Meanwhile,Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said Kejriwal will never return as the CM.

"There is no question of him becoming the CM again. We have been saying for a long time that he should resign as the CM... This is a mere gimmick," said Dikshit.

"This happened for the first time when an elected leader came out of jail on bail, and was asked by the SC to not go to the CMO or sign any papers. Such conditions were never imposed on any other CM. Maybe even the SC fears that this person might try to tamper with the evidence."

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

What did Kejriwal say?

Kejriwal announced his potential resignation while stating thata member of the party, whose name will be formalised after a cabinet meeting, will take his position soon.

"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.

Senior AAP leader Raghav Chadha, reacting to the decision said Kejriwal had decided to give"agnipariksha" (trial by fire).

"Today he (Mr Kejriwal) decided to give agnipariksha. People of Delhi will prove him honest by voting for the AAP,"Chadha told reporters.

Kejriwal demanded that elections in the national capital, scheduled for February 2025, be held in November alongsidethe assembly elections in Maharashtra.

(With inputs from agencies)