Amid speculations over who will be the Delhi Chief Minister, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia will visit party Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Monday (September 16), a day after AAP supremo announced to resign and not sit on the chief minister’s chair till people give him a “certificate of honesty.”
“Kejriwal and Sisodia will be meeting today…The meeting is slated to be held at the chief minister’s official residence in the Civil Lines area,” news agency PTI reported quoting a party functionary. The report said that during Sisodia’s visit, the two leaders may hold discussions on the name of the next Delhi Chief Minister.
This will be the first meeting between the two leaders following Kejriwal’s announcement on Sunday. Announcing his resignation, Kejriwal had said that he would become chief minister and Manish Sisodia his deputy only when people say we are honest.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Arvind Kejriwal will submit his resignation on Tuesday, and as soon as the resignation is accepted, there will be a meeting of AAP’s legislative party that will elect a leader. “The leader who will be elected will present the claim to the President through the Lieutenant Governor. The MLAs are with us. So obviously that person will be called and will take oath. I think this whole process should be completed within a week,” Bharadwaj said.
#WATCH | Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj says, “Tomorrow, Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) will submit his resignation and as soon as the resignation is accepted, there will be a meeting of the legislative party, the legislative party will elect a leader. The… pic.twitter.com/xmPu3X9gY7
— ANI (@ANI) September 16, 2024
Kejriwal, who was released on bail from the Tihar Jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy graft case, has said that he would hold a meeting of the AAP MLAs in a couple of days and one of his party colleagues would take over as the chief minister.
The AAP supremo’s unexpected announcement kicked up a strong buzz over the names of his wife Sunita Kejriwal and his ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Kailash Gehlot and Gopal Rai as his possible replacement.
#WATCH | Delhi: CM Arvind Kejriwal says, “They sent me to jail because their goal was to break the AAP and the courage of Arvind Kejriwal… They thought they would break our party and form a government in Delhi after jailing me… But our party did not break… I did not resign… pic.twitter.com/o0SJqoiujL
— ANI (@ANI) September 15, 2024
Meanwhile, Sisodia, who was Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi before he was arrested in the excise policy ‘scam’ case, also said will only return to his precious constitutional post if the public of Delhi “approves his honesty”.
In a post on X on Sunday, Sisoda, in a post in Hindi, said, “I worked honestly, but attempts were made to prove me dishonest by making false allegations against me under petty politics. I was kept in jail for 17 months on false charges. After two years of legal process, now even the country’s top court has told me to go and do my work. But I will not sit in the chair of Deputy Chief Minister-Education Minister right now. I did not come into politics here for the greed of chairs and posts. I have come to work honestly on education.”
“I have also decided that I will go to public court along with Arvind Kejriwal and ask whether the public considers me honest or not. Elections are to be held in three-four months. Only if the public approves my honesty, I will sit in the chair of Deputy Chief Minister-Education Minister and work for education. Jai Hind,” he added.