Arvind Kejriwal, a popular opposition leader and Delhi Chief Minister, has resigned from his position after being released on bail in a fraud situation.
Kejriwal spent five months in jail in connection with a now-scrapped alcohol sales policy. He has denied the allegations against him.
He has stated that he will only assume the position if voters re-elect his Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP ) in the upcoming assembly elections.
Kejriwal’s partner and top Delhi minister Atishi will remove him as the leader of the government, the group announced on Tuesday.
AAP dominated the capital city since the 2013 Delhi council elections, focusing on welfare initiatives like cheap electricity and water for occupants.
The party’s performance in the previous vote, when it won 67 chairs, nearly resembles the party’s 62 seats in the 70-seat assembly in 2020.
Over the weekend, Kejriwal had announced his intention to step down, saying he would only be in charge of Delhi if Delhi’s citizens gave him a “certificate of honesty.”
” I got justice from the constitutional court, then I did get justice from the person’s courtroom”, he told reporters.
In order to align the elections in Delhi, which are scheduled for February of next year, with the approaching elections in Maharashtra state, Kejriwal has demanded that they be moved to November.
Professionals, however, say that is unlikely to happen.
Elections must be held within six months of the close of an assembly term, as per Indian law. Also, the Election Commission considers elements like wind, festivals, and political move adjustments before announcing elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), which is the AAP’s main opposition in Delhi, has called Kejriwal’s resignation a “publicity stunt” to galvanise public sympathy.
Kejriwal, the second AAP president to be detained for allegedly evading punishment for the now-defunct alcohol sales policy, was an anti-corruption crusader.
Manish Sisodia, a former assistant chief minister, and AAP head Sanjay Singh were also arrested in the case. After serving 17 months in jail, Sesodia was released on bail in April, and Singh was released on bail in August.
AAP introduced the legislation in 2021, promising to reduce dark market sales, boost revenues, and maintain uniform distribution of liquor licenses.
Following accusations by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena that AAP was using the rules to gain personal liquor barons, it was later dropped.
The AAP refutes the allegations and accuses the BJP of using investigating agencies to unfairly targeted opposition leaders, a fee it refutes.
At age 43, Atishi is the second woman to hold the position of chief minister in Delhi.
She now holds significant portfolios such as liquid, finance, energy and education in Delhi’s cabinet.
She served as the face of the group and quickly gained traction as a powerful leader in the presence of top AAP officials, who were jailed until late.
Atishi attended Delhi University and later attended the University of Oxford to pursue her master’s degree. She was raised by academics with Communist leanings.
After a brief period of training at a school in Karnataka, she became involved in Madhya Pradesh’s alternate farming and learning reforms.
She became a member of AAP in 2013 and has made a significant contribution to the reform of Delhi’s open schools as a consultant to previous Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia.
In 2020, she was elected to the Delhi assembly in a resounding victory over her status as an education activist.
She had contested the 2019 legislative elections, but lost to previous bowler Gautam Gambhir.
Earlier this year, she made headlines after she went on an indefinite hunger strike to highlight Delhi’s water crisis during its peak summer months.