AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy-linked corruption case
In his first address to party workers after he walked out of prison, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that he would resign from the post of the Chief Minister of Delhi within the next two days.
Kejriwal was released from Tihar jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy-linked corruption case. “Given the current situation, the court has done everything it could in our favour. We are very grateful to the court. The court has given me bail, this was the most it could do at this stage. Now the case will proceed. My heart says that until I am acquitted by the court, I will not sit on the Chief Minister’s chair,” he said.
Addressing AAP workers, he said that “conspiracies” hatched by the central government could not break his “rock-like resolve” and that he would continue to fight for the country.
अब जब तक दिल्ली की जनता अपना फ़ैसला नहीं सुना देती है तब तक मैं मुख्यमंत्री की कुर्सी पर नहीं बैठूँगा।मैं आज से 2 दिन बाद मुख्यमंत्री के पद से इस्तीफ़ा दे दूंगा। @ArvindKejriwal#केजरीवाल_ईमानदार_हैpic.twitter.com/jQJFnekOMF
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 15, 2024
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Kejriwal insisted that Delhi should go to polls along with Maharashtra, where assembly elections are likely in October. He also mentioned that until the elections are held, another member of the AAP will take over as the Chief Minister. “There are elections in February. I demand that the elections be held along with Maharashtra’s. Until the elections take place, someone else from the Aam Aadmi Party will become the Chief Minister,” he added.
The AAP supremo had last addressed party workers on June 2 before surrendering at Tihar jail. The Supreme Court had granted him interim bail in May to campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. During his address on Sunday, Kejriwal condemned what he described as efforts of his opponents to undermine the AAP.
“They sent me to jail with the intention of breaking both the AAP and my resolve,” Kejriwal said. “They believed that by putting me in jail, they could dismantle our party and form a government in Delhi. However, our party remained intact.”
Kejriwal stressed that his decision to remain in jail rather than resign was driven by his commitment to protect the Constitution of India. He also praised the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, which questioned the central government’s stance on the functionality of a government operating from jail.
“The Supreme Court questioned why a government could not be run from jail, ultimately proving that it could,” Kejriwal said.
