'Want to give agnipariksha': Kejriwal says he will resign as Delhi CM in two days

Two days after he walked out of prison, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a shocking development on Sunday (September 15), announced that he will resign from his post after two days.

The BJP has termed it as a 'PR stunt'.

Kejriwal, who was addressing AAP workers, also demanded early polls in Delhi as he vowed not to sit on the chief minister's chair till people give him a "certificate of honesty".

"Two days later, I will resign as chief minister. I will not sit on that chair till the people announce their verdict. Elections in Delhi are months away. I got justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people's court. I will sit on the chief minister's chair only after the order of the people," Kejriwal said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo said a party member will be named chief minister after his resignation. Meanwhile, he would go among the people and ask for their support. Kejriwal also demanded that the elections in the national capital, scheduled for February, be held in November along with the polls in Maharashtra.

CM demands early polls

“Delhi elections are due in February, but I demand elections in national capital be held in November with Maharashtra,” Kejriwal said at the public meeting.

Further, he asked the people of Delhi, "Is Kejriwal innocent or guilty? If I have worked, vote for me."

Kejriwal, who was released on bail from Tihar on Friday in the excise policy corruption case, said, "I will only sit on chief minister's chair after people give me a certificate of honesty. Want to give 'agnipariksha' after coming out of jail."

"I will become chief minister, Sisodia deputy chief minister only when people say we are honest," he said.

Appeal to fellow CMs

Kejriwal did not spare the Narendra Modi government and said it was more dictatorial than the British. The reason he did not resign as chief minister despite being arrested is because he wanted to save democracy.

"They have registered cases against (Karnataka Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah, (Kerala Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan, (Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata didi (Banerjee). I want to appeal to non-BJP, do not resign if they register cases against you. This is their new game," he said.

PR stunt: BJP

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called Kejriwal's resignation announcement as a 'PR stunt' . They claimed that the Delhi CM has realised that his image among the people of Delhi is not that of an honest leader.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari told ANI, “This is a PR stunt of Arvind Kejriwal. 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 (AAP) is known across the country as a corrupt party."

Moreover, he claimed that Kejriwal was trying to apply the Sonia Gandhi model, where she made Manmohan Singh a dummy Prime Minister and ran the government from behind the scenes. Aam Aadmi Party knows that they are losing the Delhi elections and so they want to make someone else a scapegoat, he added.

However, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa felt that Kejriwal was resigning because he had no option due to the bail conditions imposed on him by the Supreme Court. Sirsa said that Kejriwal had asked time for two-days since he was trying to convince all the MLAs to make his wife the CM... “He is forced to leave his chair because he is involved in the liquor scam..." Sirsa was quoted as saying by ANI.

Six-month jail period

After an incarceration that lasted nearly six months – barring a 21-day release for the Lok Sabha elections – Kejriwal was released on Friday from Tihar after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy linked corruption case.

The AAP supremo had last addressed party workers on June 2 before surrendering at Tihar jail. He was earlier granted interim bail in May by the Supreme Court for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls till June 2.