Arvind Kejriwal resigns as Chief Minister of Delhi

The Delhi CM said that he was upset with the proceedings in the House

Forty-nine days after he took charge of the Delhi government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has resigned from his post after he was prevented from tabling his pet Jan Lokpal Bill in the legislative assembly on Friday in the face of firm opposition from both Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The AAP leader wanted the anti-corruption bill immediately tabled and passed in the assembly but the Congress and BJP said it must be approved by the Union  government first, which Kejriwal disputed.

Earlier, Kejriwal said that he would give up the chief minister's post not a hundred times but a thousand times for the sake of the country. The Jan Lokpal Bill seeks to curb corruption in high places.

 

"I will consider myself fortunate if I have to sacrifice chief minister's post and my life to eradicate corruption," he said after the assembly session was over.

 

In a major embarrassment to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, Speaker Maninder Singh Dhir said that the Jan Lokpal Bill has not been tabled in the assembly as it lacks majority in favour.

 

Forty two of the 70 MLAs voted against the bill being introduced with the Congress and BJP joining hands, strongly opposing it. 

 

Amid pandemonium, Kejriwal tabled the Jan Lokpal bill in the assembly. Soon after the bill was introduced, both Congress and BJP MLAs rushed towards the Speaker, leading to the adjournment of the house for 20 minutes.

 

Earlier in the day, Jung wrote to the Speaker asking him not to allow the bill to be tabled in the assembly.

 

Jung said the bill doesn't have the required clearance for introduction in the House. The AAP leader had last night renewed his threat of resigning if the proposed piece of legislation was defeated by Congress and BJP.

 

The four-day session of the Assembly, which began on Thursday, has been convened to pass the Jan Lokpal and Swaraj Bills.

 

Kejriwal took power on December 28 at the head of a minority government propped up by the Congress that has now turned against him.