Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent opposition leader and Chief Minister of Delhi, has resigned from his post after being granted bail in a corruption case.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal spent five months in jail in connection with a liquor sales policy. He has denied all the allegations against him.

He has said that he will only assume the post if people re-elect his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the next Assembly elections.

Kejriwal's colleague and senior Delhi minister Manish Sisodia will take over as the head of the government, the party announced on Tuesday.

The AAP made its polling debut in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections and has governed the capital ever since, focusing on welfare measures such as cheap electricity and water for residents.

In 2020, the party won 62 seats in the 70-member Assembly - almost repeating its performance in the previous election when it won 67 seats.

While announcing his intention to resign over the weekend, Kejriwal had said that he would sit on the Chief Minister's chair only when the people of Delhi give him a "certificate of honesty".

Speaking to reporters, he said, "I got justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people's court."

Kejriwal has pushed for advancing the Delhi elections, scheduled for February next year, to November, aligning them with the upcoming elections in the state of Maharashtra.

However, experts say this is unlikely to happen.

Indian laws state that elections cannot be held less than six months before the end of the Assembly's term unless the Assembly is dissolved prematurely. Moreover, the Election Commission considers factors such as the season, festivals, and voter list revision before announcing elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition to the AAP in Delhi, has termed Kejriwal's resignation as a "publicity stunt" to garner public sympathy.

Kejriwal, a crusader against corruption, was the third AAP leader to be arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the liquor sales policy.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and AAP leader Sanjay Singh were also arrested in the case. Sisodia was granted bail in August after spending 17 months in jail, and Singh was released on bail in April.

The policy was introduced by the AAP in 2021, which was said to curb black market sales, increase revenue, and also ensure equitable distribution of liquor licenses.

It was withdrawn a few months later when Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena accused the AAP of exploiting the rules to benefit private liquor vendors.

The AAP has denied the allegations and accused the BJP of misusing investigative agencies to target opposition leaders, an allegation it denies.