Delhi’s Chief Minister and the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, has announced his decision to resign from the chief minister’s post just two days after being granted bail in the excise (liquor) policy case. On Sunday, September 15, 2024, at around 11 a.m., Kejriwal declared that he would step down within two days and seek a fresh mandate from the people of Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The party has not yet decided who will succeed him as Chief Minister, but names like Atishi, Raghav Chadha, and Saurabh Bhardwaj are being considered. Atishi has been handling most of the government\u2019s work during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kejriwal\u2019s resignation comes at a time when Delhi was scheduled to hold its Assembly elections in February next year, but he has urged that elections be held as early as November 2024, alongside elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision to step down comes in the midst of serious allegations of corruption and money laundering against Kejriwal and the AAP government. It is alleged that they took bribes amounting to \u20b9100 crores through their excise policy and used that money in the Goa Assembly elections. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Income Tax Department are investigating these allegations. Several key figures, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, were also arrested in connection with this case. However, no solid evidence has been presented so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kejriwal\u2019s decision to resign appears to be a strategic move, as he has decided to seek the people’s mandate after being granted bail by the Supreme Court. Over the past two years, the BJP has consistently demanded his resignation, but Kejriwal refused. Now, after securing bail, he sees an opportunity to capitalize on the public sympathy and go to elections. He has stated that after receiving justice from the highest court, he will now turn to the people for their verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kejriwal’s attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP during the party meeting was sharp, accusing them of being more authoritarian than even the British colonial rulers. He mentioned how opposition leaders like Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren, and West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee have faced similar political attacks to break their parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His decision to resign comes across as a calculated political move. By stepping down now, Kejriwal avoids further BJP pressure for his resignation and also seeks to consolidate public sympathy after his legal battles. The Supreme Court’s strong criticism of the ED and CBI’s actions during the investigation could also be leveraged by Kejriwal in his campaign. This move could help him unify his party and secure voter support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, the resignation will not disrupt the functioning of the Delhi government too much. Given that Delhi is not a full-fledged state and many key powers, including land and police, rest with the central government, the Lieutenant Governor holds significant power. Even before his arrest, Kejriwal did not hold any direct ministries, effectively serving as a figurehead Chief Minister. Therefore, stepping down now will not greatly affect governance in the short term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kejriwal\u2019s next step could raise constitutional questions, as the resignation of a Chief Minister typically means the resignation of the entire cabinet. However, Kejriwal’s decision to have someone else from his party take over as interim Chief Minister suggests that only the leadership of the party\u2019s legislative wing will change. Whether this approach will be successful remains to be seen, but Kejriwal’s political instincts have often helped him navigate complex challenges before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Kejriwal prepares for a new chapter, the political landscape in Delhi is sure to see significant developments in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Delhi’s Chief Minister and the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Arvind Kejriwal, has announced his decision to resign from the chief minister’s post just two days after being granted bail in the excise (liquor) policy case. On Sunday, September 15, 2024, at around 11 a.m., Kejriwal declared that he would step down within […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5183,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5164\/revisions\/5183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}