New Delhi: In his first address to party workers after walking out of jail following Supreme Court’s grant of bail, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that he would resign from the post of Delhi Chief Minister in a couple of days and called for early elections in the national capital.
‘Will go to every house, street…’
Alleging that the BJP-led government at the Centre had sent him to jail to break his party and his courage, he said he would not sit on the CM chair until the people give their verdict via voting.
“I am going to resign from the CM position after two days. I will not sit on the CM chair until the people give their verdict… I will go to every house and street and not sit on the CM chair till I get a verdict from the people,” he said.
Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal says, “When I was in jail, one day, Sandeep Pathak came to meet me…He is a political person, and so am I. I asked him what was happening in the country. He told me about the political situation in the country…After that, Sandeep Pathak was… pic.twitter.com/fDVvb1NFuJ
— IANS (@ians_india) September 15, 2024
On September 13, the Supreme Court ordered Kejriwal to be released on regular bail in a case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in relation to the now-scrapped excise policy.
‘They wanted to break our party….’
“They (the BJP) thought they would break our party and form a government in Delhi after jailing me… But our party did not break… I did not resign from the jail because I wanted to protect the Constitution of India. I wanted to fail their formula… The SC asked the central government why a government cannot run from the jail… The SC proved that a government can run from jail…” he added.
#WATCH | Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal says, “… I am going to resign from the CM position after two days. I will not sit on the CM chair until the people give their verdict… I will go to every house and street and not sit on the CM chair till I get a verdict from the people…” pic.twitter.com/6f7eI7NVcN
— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2024
‘Till elections, someone else will be the CM’
He urged the public that if they thought he was honest then they should vote for him in large numbers. “I will sit on the CM’s chair only after being elected,” he added. The elections in Delhi are supposed to be held in February. But, he demanded the elections to be held in November with Maharashtra elections.
“Till elections are held, someone else from the party will be the Chief Minister. In the next 2-3 days, a meeting of the MLAs will be held, where the next CM will be decided,” he added.
It’s a PR stunt to better image: BJP
Meanwhile, the BJP called this move as a ‘PR stunt’ of the leader. “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 is known across the country as a corrupt party. Under his PR stunt, he wants to restore his image…” BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari told the ANI in an interview.