Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convener Arvind Kejriwal resigned as the Chief Minister of Delhi on Tuesday, September 17, hours after selecting Atishi as his successor for the post. Accompanied by other AAP leaders, including Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kejriwal arrived at the Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena's residence around 4.30 pm and submitted his resignation.
With Kejriwal stepping down, the AAP will now stake a claim for government formation under Atishi's leadership.
This resignation comes amid the upheaval faced by the party during Kejriwal's third tenure, particularly with the Delhi excise policy case, where several top leaders, including Kejriwal himself, were accused of accepting money from liquor companies to pass favourable policies.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested, followed by Kejriwal's own arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in March, marking the first time a sitting Chief Minister was sent to jail. Kejriwal was released on bail after six months. He walked out of Tihar Jail on September 13, hours after the Supreme Court granted him conditional bail in the Delhi liquor policy case.
He had announced his resignation a day by after his release, while addressing a public gathering. Kejriwal sought for an early elections in November. The move, he said, would allow people to judge his honesty. He vowed not to sit on the CM's chair until the public's verdict was delivered.
"I am ready for Agni Pariksha", said Kejriwal, adding, "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." In a direct attack on the Modi government after his release, Kejriwal called it "more dictatorial than the British" and urged other non-BJP Chief Ministers not to resign if they were falsely imprisoned, emphasising that it is possible to run a government from jail if united.