India
‘PR stunt… gimmick’: How BJP, Congress reacted to Kejriwal’s announcement to resign as Delhi CM | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday made a surprise announcement that he will resign within two days.
The AAP national convener, who was at the party headquarters on Sunday along with his wife Sunita to address party workers after his release from Tihar jail, said he would become chief minister and deputy chief minister to Manish Sisodia only “when people say we are honest”.
Also read:Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says he will resign within 48 hours: What it means, what happens now and who will benefit
The BJP hit back at Kejriwal, terming his announcement to resign as a “confession of crime”. The BJP also questioned whether his decision to resign was due to internal conflicts within the Aam Aadmi Party.
The party also called Kejriwal’s move a “drama” and accused him of playing an “emotional card” to make a virtue of necessity. The conditional bail imposed by the Supreme Court in the excise fraud case barred him from entering his office and signing files.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi expressed doubts over Kejriwal’s timing and asked why he had not resigned when he was arrested in connection with the scam.
“That he is talking about resigning and demanding early elections in Delhi after coming out of jail on bail raises suspicions,” Trivedi said. “Could it be that there is some conflict within his party because of which he feels that it will be difficult to deal with it now?”
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva criticised Kejriwal, saying the people of Delhi have already passed judgement in the Lok Sabha elections, where the AAP had failed to win any of the seven seats in the national capital.
“Remove the government. Resign all ministers and hold elections in Delhi in November. The people of Delhi will respond,” Sachdeva said.
Another BJP national spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, accused Kejriwal of playing an “emotional card” and staging a “resignation drama” as part of a plan to make his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, the prime minister. Poonawalla alleged that Kejriwal is trying to create a “Manmohan Singh-like system” in Delhi, similar to what Sonia Gandhi did during the Congress government.
“The emotional and PR cards he is playing are aimed at creating a Manmohan Singh-like system in Delhi, as (former Congress president) Sonia Gandhi did,” the BJP leader said.
Also read:Wants wife Sunita Kejriwal as CM: BJP on Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation talks
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit reacted to the Delhi Chief Minister’s resignation, calling it a ‘gimmick’. He added that this had happened for the first time when an elected leader was released from jail on bail and was asked by the Supreme Court not to come to the Chief Minister’s office or sign any documents.
“There is no question of him becoming CM again. We have been saying this for long that he should resign as CM… This is just a gimmick. This happened for the first time when an elected leader came out of jail on bail and was asked by the SC not to go to the CMO or sign any papers… Such conditions have never been imposed on any other CM… Maybe even the SC fears that this person might try to tamper with the evidence… The SC is treating him as a criminal… There is no correlation between morality and Arvind Kejriwal,” Dikshit told ANI.
The AAP national convener, who was at the party headquarters on Sunday along with his wife Sunita to address party workers after his release from Tihar jail, said he would become chief minister and deputy chief minister to Manish Sisodia only “when people say we are honest”.
Also read:Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says he will resign within 48 hours: What it means, what happens now and who will benefit
The BJP hit back at Kejriwal, terming his announcement to resign as a “confession of crime”. The BJP also questioned whether his decision to resign was due to internal conflicts within the Aam Aadmi Party.
The party also called Kejriwal’s move a “drama” and accused him of playing an “emotional card” to make a virtue of necessity. The conditional bail imposed by the Supreme Court in the excise fraud case barred him from entering his office and signing files.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi expressed doubts over Kejriwal’s timing and asked why he had not resigned when he was arrested in connection with the scam.
“That he is talking about resigning and demanding early elections in Delhi after coming out of jail on bail raises suspicions,” Trivedi said. “Could it be that there is some conflict within his party because of which he feels that it will be difficult to deal with it now?”
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva criticised Kejriwal, saying the people of Delhi have already passed judgement in the Lok Sabha elections, where the AAP had failed to win any of the seven seats in the national capital.
“Remove the government. Resign all ministers and hold elections in Delhi in November. The people of Delhi will respond,” Sachdeva said.
Another BJP national spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, accused Kejriwal of playing an “emotional card” and staging a “resignation drama” as part of a plan to make his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, the prime minister. Poonawalla alleged that Kejriwal is trying to create a “Manmohan Singh-like system” in Delhi, similar to what Sonia Gandhi did during the Congress government.
“The emotional and PR cards he is playing are aimed at creating a Manmohan Singh-like system in Delhi, as (former Congress president) Sonia Gandhi did,” the BJP leader said.
Also read:Wants wife Sunita Kejriwal as CM: BJP on Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation talks
Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit reacted to the Delhi Chief Minister’s resignation, calling it a ‘gimmick’. He added that this had happened for the first time when an elected leader was released from jail on bail and was asked by the Supreme Court not to come to the Chief Minister’s office or sign any documents.
“There is no question of him becoming CM again. We have been saying this for long that he should resign as CM… This is just a gimmick. This happened for the first time when an elected leader came out of jail on bail and was asked by the SC not to go to the CMO or sign any papers… Such conditions have never been imposed on any other CM… Maybe even the SC fears that this person might try to tamper with the evidence… The SC is treating him as a criminal… There is no correlation between morality and Arvind Kejriwal,” Dikshit told ANI.
