Describing the announcement by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to step down from the office two days later as “victory for the people” of the national capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday (September 15) said that the CM was “forced to resign” because of the Supreme Court’s order. BJP MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that Kejriwal became the first chief minister in the history of the country who was barred from entering the CMO and signing official files by the apex court.
BJP's reaction to Kejriwal's resignation announcement
"Today, he (Arvind Kejriwal) is comparing himself to Bhagat Singh. Those who sacrificed their lives for the country must be feeling distressed. He has tried to tarnish the reputation of Bhagat Singh. Why is he talking about resigning only after coming out? Kejriwal is the first Chief Minister to be barred by the Supreme Court from performing official duties. His resignation is a confession of his crime. Why does he want to go to elections early? Is there a rift within his party? What compulsion is driving his statement about resignation? If he wants elections, he should dissolve the Assembly. Kejriwal's conduct, behavior, and speech are full of confusion and doubt," the BJP spokesperson said at a press conference.
"The newly-formed party in Indian politics, led by a so-called "hardcore honest" character, has set an example that has no comparison in the country’s political history. He remained in his own jail and didn’t deem it fit to resign from his position. The Aam Aadmi Party promotes confusion and lies. In our government, Hemant Soren and Kejriwal went to jail, but leaders like Shibu Soren, Madhu Koda, Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi, and Lalu Yadav — when they went to jail, they resigned. But even that didn’t happen with you," Trivedi added.
Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva said, "He(Arvind Kejriwal) is saying that he will go among the public of Delhi and they will take the decision. The public of Delhi has already announced their decision three months ago when he(Arvind Kejriwal) asked for 'jail ke badle vote'. The public of Delhi announced its verdict and gave zero seats to them..."
Other BJP leaders react
BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa took a jibe at Kejriwal stating that the people of the city gave their verdict in June when the CM had sought votes for the INDIA bloc candidates in Delhi Lok Sabha Elections “if they wanted to keep me out of jail”, and the Opposition alliance ended up losing all 7 seats in the city.
“Arvind Kejriwal has announced that he will resign after two days and become the CM again when he gets a verdict from the people... This is not a sacrifice, the Supreme Court has said in the order that he cannot go near the CM's chair and cannot sign any files. Hence, you dont have an option, you are forced to resign because of the SC order. The people gave their verdict 3 months ago when you asked 'jail or bail', you lost all 7 (Lok Sabha seats in Delhi) and were sent to jail... Now he has asked for a two-day time because he is convincing all MLAs to make his wife the CM... He is forced to leave his chair because he is involved in the liquor scam,” Sirsa said.
What was the Supreme Court's order on Kejriwal?
Sirsa was referring to the Supreme Court’s order while granting Kejriwal bail in the excise policy case on September 13. The top court had also set certain conditions for the AAP chief, including barring him from entering the chief minister’s office and signing the files.
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BJP leader Kapil Mishra termed Kejriwal’s announcement as the “victory for the people” of Delhi.
“In the end, the corrupt Kejriwal will have to resign. This resignation is being forced due to the Supreme Court's strict action. The man who was adamant about running the government from jail had to announce his resignation today. This is a major victory for the people of Delhi against corruption,” he said.
BJP leader Shazia Ilmi said that Kejriwal was only trying to get "sympathy" with the "political maneuvering".
"Arvind Kejriwal is a master of political maneuvering. He knows that he should have resigned in those 5 months when he was in jail...He is deliberately talking about resignation as this is the only way to get sympathy...He should have resigned a long time ago. I think the people of Delhi have completely understood his reality..." she said.
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