New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal resigned on Friday evening after suffering a defeat in the assembly on the Jan Lokpal Bill and in a political gamble he recommended dissolution of the assembly and holding of fresh polls. Bringing to an end a 49-day roller coaster ride in power, during which he received bouquets and brickbats in equal measure, the chief minister and his cabinet met for one last time when it decided to resign and make the recommendation to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung whose advice against the anti-graft Bill he had defied in the assembly.
Delhi will be brought under President's rule and the Assembly will be kept under suspended animation with the Union Cabinet on Saturday accepting the recommendation of Lt Governor Najeeb Jung in this regard. Jung had rejected the recommendation of the outgoing AAP government that the Assembly be dissolved. The Cabinet decision will come into effect after promuglation of a notification by the President. It has to be then got endorsed by Parliament through a resolution under Article 356 of the Constitution. In a report to the Centre, Jung did not favour dissolution of the 70-member Delhi Assembly as recommended by the council of ministers headed by Arvind Kejriwal when it met last night and decided to quit. The LG's move keeps the option open for any political party or a combination of parties to try and form a government in future. Sources said Jung has conveyed to the Centre that the national capital be brought under a spell of President's rule as no party is now in a position to form an alternative government.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal lashed out at Lt Governor Najeeb Jung for not recommending dissolution of the House as per the Cabinet's decision saying that Jung was "openly flouting" the decisions taken by a majority government. "I am questioning the logic of his decision (of not recommending dissolution of the House)," Kejriwal said, adding that the constitution says that he is bound by the decision taken by the Cabinet of a majority government. "He did not agree to many of our decisions. Our Cabinet took a decision of having this session outside the House. Even he did not agree to that. He was openly flouting the constitution and I don't know why," he told news channels. In his resignation letter yesterday, Kejriwal had recommended Jung to dissolve the House and conduct fresh elections.
On Friday he attacked Jung, saying he acts like a viceroy of the central government which thinks it is still a British Government. Earlier in the day, Jung had advised the assembly against transacting the Jan Lokpal Bill which he said should have prior clearance of central government. Straight from the cabinet meeting, 45-year-old Kejriwal, who came to power riding the crest of an anti-graft movement and was called an anarchist for his street protest as CM, drove to the AAP headquarters in Central Delhi, three kilometres away from the Secretariat and addressed his supporters in pouring rain when he announced his resignation.
"The Cabinet has decided to resign. We have recommended to the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the assembly and hold fresh elections," he told a cheering audience wearing AAP's trademark cap which welcomed his speech with a thunderous clapping. Launching a blistering attack on Congress, on whose support he came to power, and the BJP accusing them of "colluding" with Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani to bring down the government two days after he filed an FIR against him on the gas pricing issue. "The real face of BJP and Congress has been exposed. They did not allow the Bill (Jan Lokpal) to be introduced in the House. They defeated the Bill because three days back because we lodged an FIR against Mukesh Ambani," he said.
Kejriwal said Ambani was running the Congress government for the last 10 years, saying "Congress is his shop and he can buy anything whenever he wants". He also did not spare Narendra Modi saying Ambani has been behind him for last one year. "Where are Modi's riches coming from. He is flying by helicopter criss crossing the country. He is addressing huge and expensive rallies. From where does he get money for all this. "Mukesh Ambani had once said that Congress is his shop and he can buy anything from them and since the last ten years he was running the UPA government, Kejriwal alleged. "Mukesh Ambani is behind Modi also. From where does Modi get so much money ? Modi moves in helicopters. From where does he get money to conduct such huge rallies? When we raised fingers against Mukesh Ambani, Congress and BJP joined hands", he said.
"They thought that Kejriwal has a small anti-corruption branch and is creating such a nuisance. If Jan Lokpal comes, half of their partymen would go to jail. They thought that we would also raise voice against Sharad Pawar, Kamal Nath," said Kejriwal. He said both BJP and Congress meet everyday behind curtains to loot the country. "But in the last few days. Their real faces have been exposed. Both of them today did not allow the Bill to be passed in the Assembly," he said. Both BJP and Congress could not conduct audit of power distribution companies in last five years. We did it in five days. They could not reduce corruption in 65 years, we filed FIRs against corruption done by Sheila Dikshit, Kejriwal said. "They told us not to do this and do governance. Is governance not about sending the corrupt to jail?," he asked.
Kejriwal said: "I am no one. I am one among you. I have not come here for position. Today as Jan Lokpal Bill could not be passed our government resigned. Our cabinet has recommended that the Delhi Assembly should be dissolved and fresh polls be conducted. He said his government was working day in and out for the welfare of the people of Delhi with utmost dedication. "If I have to resign 100 times from the post of chief minister, I will...At last I will pray to God that we are small people. Please give us good thought so that we can sacrifice our lives for the good of the country," Kejriwal said amidst applause from his supporters.
