- Thursday, September 19, 2024
Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Kailash Gahlot, as well as the AAP supremo’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, are probable candidates
By: Shajil Kumar
AAM AADMI PARTY has scheduled a series of meetings, including that of its political affairs committee, on Monday evening to decide on a new chief minister for Delhi, a day after Arvind Kejriwal’s surprise announcement of quitting the post.
Senior AAP leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia reached Kejriwal’s official residence to discuss with him the names of probables for the chief minister’s post, AAP leaders said.
The AAP’s Political Affairs Committee meeting is scheduled to be held at the Delhi chief minister’s residence later in the evening.
Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot, some MLAs from the reserved category, including Deputy Speaker of Delhi Assembly Rakhi Birla, as well as the AAP supremo’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, were making the rounds as probables for the post.
Addressing AAP workers at party headquarters on Sunday, Kejriwal announced to step down as chief minister amid corruption allegations against him and vowed not to return to the post till he got a “certificate of honesty” from the people.
The AAP supremo said he would become chief minister and Manish Sisodia deputy CM “only when people say we are honest”.
Kejriwal, who was released on bail from the Tihar Jail in the excise policy graft case on Friday, has said that he would hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in a couple of days and one of his party colleagues would take over as chief minister.
Alleging the BJP tried to prove him corrupt, Kejriwal claimed the saffron party could not provide good schools and free electricity to people because they were corrupt. “We are honest,” he asserted.
“They slap false cases against non-BJP chief ministers. If the CMs are arrested, I urge them not to resign but run their government from jail,” Kejriwal said on Sunday.
“I didn’t resign (after arrest in excise policy case) because I respect democracy and the Constitution is supreme for me,” he had said and asserted that it was only the AAP that could stand up to the BJP’s “conspiracies”.
Early polls demanded
AAP has said it has put the ball in BJP’s court by demanding early elections in Delhi in November, and now it is up to the opposition party to decide whether it was prepared to face Kejriwal.
The Delhi chief minister will tender his resignation as chief minister on Tuesday, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
“Today is a holiday and tomorrow is the first working day of the week. He will tender his resignation tomorrow to Lt Governor and after the resignation is accepted, a meeting of party MLAs will be held to decide on the new name,” he said at a press conference.
Bharadwaj said the candidate chosen will then present their claim to the president through the LG.
“We have the majority and we will be invited and then the process for oath taking will happen. This should take a week,” he added.
Delhi elections will be the first polls that will be fought on the plank of “honesty”, the senior AAP leader said.
“The Centre with all its agencies is after CM. They have made all efforts to defame him. Despite this, he has faith in people and his honesty. This is a historic incident,” he said.
Kejriwal’s announcement has led to discussion among common people everywhere, the minister added.
“People are keen to vote quickly and want early elections to choose Kejriwal. There is resentment against BJP. Lord Ram had given up his kingdom and chosen to go on exile for the sake of his ideals. Bharat, who was chosen in his place, waited for Lord Ram to return.
“Kejriwal is not Ram but is setting an example by giving up his chair,” he added.
Dissolve assembly: BJP
The BJP has said if Kejriwal wanted early polls he should get the Delhi Assembly dissolved instead of creating this “drama” around his resignation.
The party termed Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement of resigning as a “confession of crime” and wondered if he offered to quit the post because of an infight within his Aam Aadmi Party.
It also termed Kejriwal’s move a “drama” and claimed he was playing an “emotional card” in a bid to make a virtue out of necessity as the Supreme Court by granting him a “conditional bail” in the excise policy graft case, restricted him from entering his office and signing any file.
“When Arvind Kejriwal talked about resigning, it became a confession of his crime. He accepted that the charges levelled against him were such that he could not continue as chief minister,” BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday.
He also wondered why Kejriwal did not resign when he was arrested in connection with the scam.
“Him talking about resigning and demanding early polls in Delhi after coming out of jail on bail raises suspicion,” Trivedi said. “Could it be that there is some conflict going on within his party due to which he feels that it will be difficult to handle it now?”
The BJP leader said that contrary to his character Kejriwal is “speaking nonsense”.
“He is still a chief minister and his party has a massive majority in the Delhi assembly. If he wants elections to be held, he can convene the cabinet’s meeting and recommend dissolution of the assembly,” Trivedi said.
“His demand (for early polls) shows just how bizarre his character has become,” the BJP leader said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also slammed Kejriwal and said he talks about going to the people’s court while they have already given their verdict in the Lok Sabha polls in which the AAP could not win any of the seven seats in the national capital.
He claimed that none of the Delhi government departments is free of corruption under Kejriwal’s rule. (PTI)
