‘Dissolve assembly, face public’: BJP questions timing of Kejriwal’s decision

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday trained their guns against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after he announced that he would resign as CM in two days, questioning the timing of his action and asking him to recommend the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly and face the public.
“Why now? What is the compulsion? Is there some brawl within the party?” BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi asked. “We are witnessing a new low in politics,” he added.
“You are the first CM who the Supreme Court has condemned from going to the CM Office… The public has already shown you where you belong,” he said, referring to the Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
In a dramatic move on Sunday, two days after coming out of jail following the grant of bail by the Supreme Court in the 2021-22 excise policy case, Kejriwal announced that he would step down from the position of the chief minister on September 17 and the legislative party of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would meet in a couple of days to elect a new chief minister.
Trivedi said, “He (Kejriwal) is the first CM to come out of jail under his own party’s administration and still break a rule set by his own government,” Trivedi noted, referring to fireworks display by AAP supporters despite the Delhi government’s stance against it.
Trivedi further condemned Kejriwal’s attempts to compare himself to freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh. “When Bhagat Singh’s photo was hung on the wall, even his family condemned it,” he remarked, adding that Kejriwal is “tarnishing the image” of Bhagat Singh by claiming to be his ideological successor. He also criticised AAP ministers for visiting Mahatma Gandhi’s samadhi on a dry day, while being implicated in the alcohol scam. “You are tarnishing the image of those who sacrificed for the country, like Bhagat Singh,” Trivedi said.
BJP Delhi state president Virendra Sachdeva accused Kejriwal of misleading the public with false promises and corruption. “Your corruption spoiled Delhi,” he said, outlining a litany of alleged failures: the deaths of 40-45 children due to sewage mismanagement, the addition of a 45% surcharge to electricity bills, water shortages despite promises of free water, and the sharp increase in the number of private water tankers from 1,200 to 3,000 under Kejriwal’s watch.
Sachdeva alleged that instead of eliminating the tanker mafia, Kejriwal encouraged it. He also pointed out the alleged collapse of Delhi’s health services, where over 50% of government ICU centres are non-functional and appointments are delayed by years. “Tests are conducted 18,000 times on a single phone number just to collect commissions,” he said. He said that fake medicines were being distributed in Delhi government hospitals.
Sachdeva accused Kejriwal’s ministers of turning the education sector into a business connected to the alcohol industry. “Your minister ran the education business with alcohol,” he said, pointing to alleged failures in the so-called “education revolution.”
“If you didn’t do a scam in the alcohol policy, why was it canceled the moment the investigation started?” Sachdeva asked and also accused Kejriwal of opening liquor shops near temples, mosques, and gurudwaras.
Sachdeva criticised Kejriwal’s treatment of Delhi’s public services, alleging that the city’s infrastructure has deteriorated under his leadership. “Look at the condition of Delhi roads,” he said.
Sachdeva also accused Kejriwal of taking bribes to halt the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) project and said there was a scam related to the panic button for women’s safety.
He also accused Kejriwal of receiving preferential treatment in jail. “You were getting food from home in jail,” he said, contrasting this with the harsh conditions faced by others in similar circumstances. He also condemned Kejriwal for ill-treating a female MP at his residence, an incident that Sachdeva claimed has left a permanent stain on his image.
Earlier, Kejriwal said he would accept the chief minister’s post only if people certify his honesty in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. “We will go to the court of people to prove our innocence,” he said, demanding that Delhi assembly election be held in November, months ahead of its tentative schedule in February 2025.