Arvind Kejriwal to resign ‘in 2 days’: BJP claims 48 hours to ‘make Sunita CM’; Atishi counters ‘today is Sunday…’

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has indicated plans to resign from office ‘in two days’ following his exit from Tihar jail. The AAP supremo also sought early polls in the national capital and vowed not to sit in CM chair until people give him a “certificate of honesty”. The 48 hour delay between the announcement and his impending resignation has however fueled widespread speculation.

“Today is Sunday, tomorrow is a holiday for Eid-e-Milad, so the next working day is Tuesday. That’s why two days time,” explained Atishi.

Kejriwal has indicated that he would hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in the next couple of days and a party leader would take over as chief minister. The names of his wife Sunita and Delhi Ministers Atishi and Gopal Rai have begun doing the rounds as a probable replacement. 

The BJP however insisted that the 48 hour gap would be utilised to ‘convince all MLAs to make Sunita Kejriwal the Chief Minister of Delhi’.

“The Supreme Court has said in the order that he cannot go near the CM’s chair and cannot sign any files. Hence, you don’t 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,” alleged BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

“The AAP national convenor’s announcement is a part of his plan to make his wife Sunita Kejriwal chief minister… Arvind Kejriwal has done a PhD on how to make a virtue out of necessity. The emotional and PR cards that he is playing is aimed at creating a Manmohan Singh-like system in Delhi as (former Congress president) Sonia Gandhi did,” added BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.

(With inputs from agencies)