Two days after his release following nearly six months of incarceration, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday took the entire country by surprise and dropped a bombshell on the BJP when he announced his resignation from the top post.
Taking everyone by surprise by sacrificing his chair of chief minister, AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal said after two days, I am going to resign from the CM’s post, and I will not sit on the CM’s chair until the people give their verdict. I will go among the public. “I will go to every street, I will go to every house and until the public gives its verdict that Kejriwal is honest, I will not sit on the CM’s chair,” he said.
He also demanded that Delhi Assembly elections be held in November along with the poll for the Maharashtra Assembly. As for his successor, Arvind Kejriwal said in the next two-three days, there will be a meeting of the legislative party, and the name of the new Chief Minister will be decided in it.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, MPs Sanjay Singh, Dr. Sandeep Pathak, Raghav Chadha, and Cabinet Ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Kailash Gahlot and other senior leaders were present on the occasion.
Addressing the party workers at the party headquarters on Sunday, AAP National Convenor and CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “I was working as Commissioner in the IT Department. I resigned from my job in 2000 and worked for 10 years in the ‘jhuggis’ of Delhi from 2000 to 2010. For a few months, I lived in the slums of Nand Nagri and Sunder Nagri to find out how poor people live, how do they run their household?”
The AAP National Convenor said, if I wanted to earn money, the job of Commissioner, Income Tax was not bad. When I quit the job, there was no party, no future. I never thought at that time I was going to become the Chief Minister. I had only one passion: to do something for the country.
He said, “I resigned from the post of chief minister after remaining in power for 49 days. I resigned for my principles. No one had sought my resignation, I resigned on my own. In today’s times, not even a peon leaves their job. I left the Chief Minister’s chair on my own. I have no lust for post or money. We only have a passion to do something for the country.”
Arvind Kejriwal said they (BJP) accused me, accused Manish Sisodia. They enforced the strictest law of the country, PMLA, on us in which getting bail is difficult. They leveled all sorts of accusations against us. Despite that, we got bail from the court. In the present circumstances, the court could not have done beyond that. We are grateful to the court for granting us bail.
The Chief Minister said now this case will drag on. “I spoke to some advocates and told them that my conscience says that I would not sit on the CM’s chair until I was acquitted by the court. They said that the case will go on for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. So, today the court has taken a decision in our favour, they have granted us bail in such a law in which it is impossible to get bail,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal continued, “Today I have come to your court, I have come to the people’s court. I have come to ask you whether you consider Kejriwal honest or guilty. I want to ask the people of Delhi; I want to ask the people of the country whether Kejriwal is honest or guilty.”
Taking everyone by surprise by sacrificing his chair of chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal said after two days, I am going to resign from the CM’s post, and I will not sit on the CM’s chair until the public gives its verdict. I will go among the public. “I will go to every street, I will go to every house and until the public gives its verdict that Kejriwal is honest, I will not sit on the CM’s chair,” he said.
Seeking a referendum on his politics of honesty, the AAP National Convenor said there are elections in Delhi after a few months. I want to appeal to the public, if you think Kejriwal is honest, vote in my favour. If you think Kejriwal is guilty, do not vote for me. Your every vote will be a certificate of my honesty. “If you vote for me, make me win and say Kejriwal is honest, only then I will sit on the CM’s chair after the elections. Till then, I will not sit on the CM’s chair,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal said you must be wondering that he has just been released from jail, why is he resigning? “They have alleged that Kejriwal is a thief, Kejriwal is corrupt, Kejriwal has betrayed Bharat Mata. I did not come here to play this game of money from power and power from money. I came here to do something for the country. When Lord Rama returned from his exile after 14 years, Sita Maiyya had to undergo ‘Agni Pariksha’ (fire test). Today, I have come back from jail, and I am ready to undergo Agni Pariksha,” he said.
The Chief Minister said some people are saying that the Supreme Court has imposed some conditions, and we will not be able to work. In the last 10 years, these people have left no stone unturned in imposing conditions. The LG imposed various conditions. The central government snatched my power by imposing one law after the other, but I did not let your work suffer. These conditions do not create any obstacle for us. We will look into these conditions as well. But for me what matters is that I have been honest all my life. “If you think Kejriwal is honest, vote in large numbers in my favour. I will occupy the CM’s chair after the elections,” he said.
The chief minister said there are elections in February. Today, from this forum, I demand that these elections be held in November along with Maharashtra elections. Elections should be held immediately, he added.
Arvind Kejriwal said until the elections are held, someone else from the Aam Aadmi Party will become the Chief Minister. Within the next two-three days, there will be a meeting of the legislative party, and the name of the new Chief Minister will be decided in it.
Ruling out the possibility of handing over the baton to his deputy, the chief minister said the pain that I have is also in Manish Sisodia’s mind. “The same things were said about him as were said for me. Manish Sisodia also says that he will take over the post of Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Delhi only when the people of Delhi say that Manish Sisodia is honest. Manish Sisodia’s and my decision is in the hands of the people of Delhi. Both of us are going to the court of the people. If the people of Delhi will say that we are honest then only we will occupy our positions,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal said in 2020, I had said that if I have worked then vote for me and if I have not worked then do not vote for me. “Today I want to tell the people that if I am honest then vote for me, if I am dishonest then do not vote for me,” he said.
The Delhi Chief Minister shared, “I got a lot of time in jail to think and read. And I read many books. I read political books. I read books about our freedom movement, the Gita many times, Ramayana, and Mahabharata.”
Showing Bhagat Singh’s ‘Jail Diary’, the AAP Supremo shared that he read Bhagat Singh’s Jail Diary many times in jail. When Bhagat Singh was in jail 95 years ago. He wrote his writings in jail. Bhagat Singh wrote letters to many people from jail including his revolutionary comrades, and the youth of the country.
“Before his death, he wrote his last letter to his comrades on 22nd March 1931 from jail, and the Britishers delivered it to them. He wrote letters to Batukeshwar Dutt’s sister Pramila, his childhood friend Jaidev Gupta, and even to Viceroy.
The letter he wrote for the youth was read in a youth congregation,” said Arvind Kejriwal.
The Delhi Chief Minister mentioned, “After, 95 years after Bhagat Singh’s death, a revolutionary Chief Minister went to jail in independent India. I wrote just one letter to Lieutenant Governor Saab from jail. It was August—the Independence Day of the country.On the day of India’s independence, Delhi’s CM hoists the flag on behalf of the Delhi government. I wrote a letter to LG Saab 3 days before 15th August that LG Saab, since I am in jail, please allow cabinet minister Atishi to hoist the flag in my absence. That letter was not sent to LG Saab.
“My letter was returned and a warning was issued that if I dare to write a letter to LG Saab for the second time, my family meetings will be stopped. Even the British had not imagined that after 95 years of independent India, a ruler more cruel and oppressive than the British would rule the country,” said the Delhi Chief Minister.
Arvind Kejriwal mentioned that Batukeshwar Dutt and Bhagat Singh had thrown a bomb in the assembly. Both were kept in adjacent cells in the same jail. On 17 July 1930, Bhagat Singh wrote a letter to Batukeshwar Dutt’s sister Pramila, ‘last night Batukeshwar had been sent to some other jail. His separation is becoming unbearable for me. Today is the first day. For me, being separated from a friend has become a burden every minute’. After 95 years, Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia go to jail in the same case. We are kept in separate jails and are not allowed to meet.
The AAP Supremo stated that during the freedom struggle, countless freedom fighters including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ashfaq Ullah Khan went to jail and remained in jail for many years. Their colleagues used to visit them in jail. Their family members and relatives used to visit them. When they went to meet them, they used to talk to them about politics and how to uproot the British. One day Dr. Sandeep Pathak came to meet me in jail. I asked about the political situation of the country and the party. After this, Sandeep Pathak was blacklisted and was not allowed to meet me.
“Bhagat Singh, who was hanged, would not have even dreamt that one day India would be like this. 95 years from today, a cruel and tyrannical government would come in India that would leave the British behind,” he affirmed.
The Delhi Chief Minister stated, “They know that Arvind Kejriwal has not done any corruption. But why did they send me to jail? Their motive behind sending me to jail was to break the morale of the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. They have made a formula. The whole country is watching how they are breaking and buying MLAs. Scaring them by sending ED-CBI. Put them in jail by filing fake cases. Topple governments and form their own government. They broke two national parties in Maharashtra.”
“They (BJP) thought that if they send Kejriwal to jail, AAP will break in Delhi and they will form a BJP government. Similarly, they wanted to form their own government by breaking the AAP MLAs in Punjab too. But our party did not break, leave alone our MLAs, not even a single worker broke. With the blessings of the people, the AAP has the strength to face their biggest conspiracies. The days I was in jail have increased my morale 100 times,” affirmed the AAP Chief.
Arvind Kejriwal said that these (BJP) people ask why Kejriwal did not resign after going to jail? I did not resign because I wanted to save the democracy of the country. Apart from buying MLAs, breaking parties, and intimidating, they have made another formula that wherever they lose elections, they file fake cases against the Chief Ministers, arrest them and topple the government.
“They have filed cases against Siddaramaiah, Pinarayi Vijayan, Hemant Soren, and Mamata Banerjee. These people do not spare even a single leader of the opposition. They arrest each one and put them in jail and topple their government. Just 10 days ago, a bench of the Supreme Court asked the Central Government why the government cannot be run from inside the jail? I have proved that the government can be run from jail,” asserted the Delhi Chief Minister.
“Now, I want to request all the non-BJP Chief Ministers of the country with folded hands that if the Prime Minister files a fake case against you and puts you in jail, then do not resign. Run the government from jail. It is not that we are greedy for the post. The post of Chief Minister is not important for us. Do not resign because our constitution, country and democracy are important for us,” affirmed Arvind Kejriwal.
Arvind Kejriwal said that there is a government in Delhi which has won with such a huge majority. Once AAP got 67 seats out of 70 and once it got 62 seats out of 70. Despite this, you (BJP) will catch me and put me in jail and ask me to resign. This new formula of theirs, and the AAP has successfully failed this formula of the BJP. Today the AAP has the power to face every conspiracy of theirs. Because we are honest.
The Delhi Chief Minister mentioned that before their government was formed, the condition of government schools in Delhi was very bad. The children of the poor had no future. 16 lakh children used to study in the dilapidated tin-shed schools of Delhi. There was no education in the schools. In the last 10 years, we have given a good future to 18 lakh children by building excellent government schools. We were able to do this because we are honest.
“If someone falls ill and is taken to a private hospital, then lakhs of rupees are spent. We made all the government schools of Delhi excellent and opened new government hospitals, Mohalla Clinics in every street and made the entire treatment of every section free. In Delhi, women do not have to pay tickets to travel in buses. The rest of the state governments are running in losses. Only the Delhi government is running in profit despite providing all the facilities. Today, Delhi is getting 24 hours free electricity. Street lights are being installed all over Delhi, pilgrimages are being taken to the elderly,” he shared.
The Chief Minister stated that in the last 75 years, as many roads and streets were not built in the unauthorized colonies as have been built in the last 10 years. In 75 years, so many water pipelines were not laid as in the last 10 years. We were able to do all this because we are honest.
Arvind Kejriwal said that these people (BJP) are afraid of our honesty. These people are dishonest, that is why they cannot make electricity free. Their governments have been running in many states for 15-30 years, but they could not improve schools and hospitals. They could not provide good treatment. Because these people are dishonest. They have filed many cases against us by ED-CBI, Delhi Police. Even after this, we are standing firmly in front of them and fighting, because we are honest. That is why these people want to prove me dishonest.
“They are mudslinging me, slandering me, abusing me morning and evening, but for me BJP is important, rather the people of the country are important for me. If the people of Delhi think that Kejriwal is dishonest, then I will not sit on the Chief Minister’s chair even for a minute. I have not earned anything in my life, my and my party’s bank account is empty. I have not earned anything in life except respect and honesty,” said Arvind Kejriwal.
Amidst thunderous applause CM Arvind Kejriwal started his address, thanks God and his supporters
Amidst roaring chants of ‘Ladenge Jeetenge’, AAP National Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal started his address by thanking God. “We have always been blessed by Lord Bholenath and Lord Hanuman. That is why we come out of such adversities. We have such big enemies in front of us. We are successful by fighting them. A small party that has changed the politics of this country. That is why I thank God with utmost respect and seek their blessings,” he said.
Expressing his gratitude towards his supporters, the AAP National Convenor said, “I thank those lakhs of people who kept us in their prayers when I, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Vijay Nair were in jail. And now Satyender Jain, Amanatullah Khan are in jail, keep them in your prayers, I hope they will also come soon. I thank all those people who prayed for us, went to temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches. I thank all those people from the bottom of my heart.”
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