Arvind Kejriwal resignation: Congress calls it ‘gimmick’, BJP says ‘forced by Supreme Court’

Arvind Kejriwal to resign: The BJP called the resignation announcement a PR stunt.

Arvind Kejriwal to resign: Reacting to Arvind Kejriwal's announcement that he will resign in the next two days as the Delhi chief minister, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said he will never return as the CM. He said his resignation is “a mere gimmick”.

Arvind Kejriwal addresses a party workers' meeting, in New Delhi, Sunday.(PTI )

"There is no question of him becoming the CM again. We have been saying for a long time that he should resign as the CM... This is a mere gimmick. This happened for the first time when an elected leader came out of jail on bail, and was asked by the SC to not go to the CMO or sign any papers... Such conditions were never 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 like a criminal... There is no correlation between morality and Arvind Kejriwal," he said.

The BJP called the resignation announcement a PR stunt.

"This is a PR stunt by Arvind Kejriwal. He has understood that his image among the people of Delhi is not of an honest leader but of a corrupt leader, today Aam Aadmi Party is known across the country as a corrupt party. Under his PR stunt, he wants to restore his image...He wants to apply the Sonia Gandhi model, where she made Manmohan Singh a dummy Prime Minister and ran the government from behind the scenes. They have understood today that the Aam Aadmi Party is losing the Delhi elections and the people of Delhi cannot vote in their name, so they want to make someone else a scapegoat," said BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said Arvind Kejriwal was forced to resign by the Supreme Court.

"This is not a sacrifice, 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," he said.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha, however, said this was Arvind Kejriwal's agnipariksha.

"Now it's in the hands of the people of Delhi to decide if he is honest or not. Arvind Kejriwal had asked for votes in the name of work in 2020 and said that if I have worked then vote for me, if I have not worked then do not vote for me," he said.

Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said he would resign after two days, vowing not to sit in the CM's chair till people give him a "certificate of honesty".

"Delhi elections are due in February but I demand that elections in the national capital be held in November with Maharashtra," he said.

"I will only sit in the CM's chair after people give me a certificate of honesty. Want to give 'agnipariksha' after coming out of jail," he added.

With inputs from PTI, ANI