BJP Flag; Arvind Kejriwal (PTI)
NEW DELHI: The BJP Sunday described Arvind Kejriwal's announcement of resigning from the post of Delhi chief minister as a "confession of crime" and wondered if he offered to quit the post because of an infight within his Aam Aadmi Party.
It also termed Kejriwal's move a "drama" and claimed he was playing an "emotional card" in a bid to make a virtue out of necessity as the Supreme Court by granting him a "conditional bail" in the excise policy graft case, restricted him from entering his office and signing any file.
"When Arvind Kejriwal talked about resigning, it became a confession of his crime. He accepted that the charges levelled against him were such that he could not continue as chief minister," BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told a press conference at the party headquarters here.
He also wondered why Kejriwal did not resign when he was arrested in connection with the scam.
"Him talking about resigning and demanding early polls in Delhi after coming out of jail on bail raises suspicion," Trivedi said. "Could it be that there is some conflict going on within his party due to which he feels that it will be difficult to handle it now?"
The BJP leader said that contrary to his character Kejriwal is "speaking nonsense".
"He is still a chief minister and his party has a massive majority in the Delhi assembly. If he wants elections to be held, he can convene the cabinet's meeting and recommend dissolution of the assembly," Trivedi said.
"His demand (for early polls) shows just how bizarre his character has become," the BJP leader said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also slammed Kejriwal and said he talks about going to the people's court while they have already given their verdict in the Lok Sabha polls in which the AAP could not win any of the seven seats in the national capital.
He claimed that none of the Delhi government departments is free of corruption under Kejriwal's rule.
"Dismiss the government. Let all Cabinet Ministers resign and conduct elections in Delhi in November. The People of Delhi will give a reply," Sachdeva said.
Another BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Kejriwal has played an "emotional card" by announcing his resignation in his bid to make a virtue out of necessity.
"He is enacting the resignation drama because the court did not acquit him in the (excise policy scam) case and instead granted him a conditional bail, which turned him into a ceremonial minister from the chief minister," he claimed.
Two days after being released from Tihar on bail in the excise policy scam case, the AAP national convener said he would resign after two days and would demand early polls in Delhi. He vowed not to sit in the CM's chair till people give him a "certificate of honesty".
Terming Kejriwal's move a "PR exercise and a drama", Poonawalla alleged that the AAP national convenor's announcement is a part of his plan to make his wife Sunita Kejriwal the chief minister. "Arvind Kejriwal has done a PhD on how to make a virtue out of necessity."
Addressing AAP workers, Kejriwal said he would hold a meeting of AAP MLAs in the next couple of days and a party leader would take over as chief minister.
Hitting out at the Delhi chief minister, Poonawalla said, "He has taken two days' time because his entire plan is to make his wife Sunita Kejriwal chief minister of Delhi in his place."
"The emotional and PR cards that he is playing are aimed at creating a Manmohan Singh-like system in Delhi as (former Congress president) Sonia Gandhi did," the BJP leader charged.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, people ensured the defeat of the AAP and the Congress in all seven seats despite the Kejriwal-led party's 'jail ka badla vote campaign', he added.