New Delhi: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is set to recommend the name of his successor after tendering his resignation from the post of Delhi chief minister to lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Kejriwal is due to meet the L-G at around 4.30 pm after holding a meeting with his party legislators over who could replace him for the top job. “A meeting of AAP MLAs will be held on Tuesday morning at Mr Kejriwal's official residence,” the party said.
Several ministers, including Atishi, Gopal Rai, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Kailash Gahlot, Speaker Ram Niwas Goel along with some reserved category MLAs, are in the running as Mr Kejriwal’s possible replacement. Interestingly, even Mr Kejriwal’s wife Sunita, is reportedly among the candidates being discussed for the role of chief minister.
All through the day on Monday, the AAP’s political affairs committee deliberated on the selection of the next chief ministerial candidate and the composition of the Delhi Cabinet. Additionally, the committee also reviewed strategies for the coming Haryana Assembly elections, as the party aims to broaden its political presence in the neighbouring state.
Among those who attended the PAC meeting were Mr Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddha and five city Cabinet ministers.
After the meeting, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters: “During the meeting, he (Mr Kejriwal) sought one-on-one feedback from each leader on his replacement. Tomorrow, the legislative party meeting is there and this discussion will go into the second round.”
Just days after being released from Tihar Jail on bail in the excise policy case, the AAP national convenor said on Sunday that he would resign within 48 hours and sought early polls in Delhi. He vowed not to sit in the chief minister's chair till the people gave him a “certificate of honesty”. The AAP chief had said he would become chief minister and Manish Sisodia his deputy “only when the people say we are honest”.
Mr Kejriwal’s move to resign after securing bail from the Supreme Court is also being viewed in political circles as an attempt by the AAP leader to counter the BJP charge of his “ineffectiveness” in the face of bail conditions which have put fetters on either attending the CM’s office or signing official files. The BJP charge is that Mr Kejriwal happens to be the only chief minister who did not resign even after his arrest on serious charges.
As the city government had faced a crisis situation as the chief minister could not discharge his duties from jail, Mr Kejriwal would now go to the electorate on a “high morality pitch” that if he was again voted to power, he would fulfil all the promises he had made during the last elections.
This is the second time Mr. Kejriwal has resigned from the post of chief minister. He had first resigned in 2013 after being in power for just 49 days when the Congress, which had eight legislators in the 70-member Assembly, withdrew its support to his AAP government. When Mr Kejriwal first resigned as CM of Delhi, his party had 28 MLAs. In the subsequent elections, he swept the Delhi polls by securing 67 of the 70 seats. The Congress was not able to secure even a single seat, while the BJP got just three.
