Arvind Kejriwal's resignation: Who will be next Delhi CM? Possible candidates

Kejriwal has called for early elections in the national capital in November 2024 - instead of February 2025.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he will resign as the chief minister of Delhi in the next two days. Kejriwal, who was released on bail from Tihar jail on Friday in the excise policy case, vowed not to sit in the CM's chair till people give him a “certificate of honesty”.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (HT PHOTO)

According to Kejriwal, he will hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in the next couple of days, and a party leader will take over as the chief minister.

“I will only sit on the CM's chair after people give me a certificate of honesty. I want to give 'agnipariksha' after coming out of jail. I will become chief minister and Manish Sisodia deputy CM only when people say we are honest,” he said.

The AAP leader also called for early elections in the national capital in November 2024 - instead of February 2025.

“Some people say that we will not be able to work because of restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court. Even they did not leave any stone unturned in imposing restrictions on us…If you think I am honest, vote for me in large numbers. I will sit on the CM's chair only after being elected. The elections are supposed to be held in February. I demand elections be held in November with Maharashtra elections... Till elections are held, someone else from the party will be the chief minister,” Kejriwal said.

Here is the list of possible chief ministers of Delhi:

1. Atishi - Currently holds five departments in the Delhi cabinet: Women and child development, education, tourism, art, culture and Language, Public Works Department, and power.
2. Kailash Gahlot - Currently holds eight departments: law, justice and legislative affairs, transport, administrative reforms, IT, revenue, finance, planning, and ome and all other departments not specifically allotted to any minister.
3. Saurabh Bharadwaj - Currently holds seven departments: Vigilance, services, health, industries, urban development, irrigation and flood control, and water.
4. Gopal Rai - He is the minister of development, general administration department, environment, and forest and wild life in the national capital.
5. Imran Hussain - He looks after food and supply, and election departments in Delhi.

According to Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia will regain his position after they get the “honest” tag.

Meanwhile, BJP called Kejriwal's announcement to step down as the CM as a “PR stunt”.

“This is a PR stunt of 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 (AAP) is known across the country as a corrupt party…Under his PR stunt, he wants to restore his image...It is clear that 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,” BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari told ANI.