Who Will Replace Arvind Kejriwal In Delhi?

Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis

NEW DELHI, (REUTERS) – Opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal said on September 15 he will resign as chief minister of the Delhi regional government, two days after he was released from prison on bail in a graft case.

Kejriwal was granted bail on September 13 by India’s Supreme Court and left prison in the evening almost six months after being detained in relation to alleged irregularities in the capital city’s liquor policy.

Kejriwal is a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a former anti-corruption crusader whose decade-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) quickly rose to mainstream politics, although its clout is relatively small compared to older opposition parties.

Kejriwal, announcing his resignation as chief minister at a meeting with AAP workers, said he would only return to the post if people certified his honesty by voting for him in the upcoming Delhi election. He called on the Election Commission to bring forward the Delhi election to November, from February 2025.

“I demand elections be held in November with Maharashtra elections, I demand the elections be held immediately,” Kejriwal said.

He was first taken into custody in March by India’s financial crime-fighting agency, weeks before the country’s national elections, in relation to Delhi’s liquor policy.

Although he was granted bail in that case in July, he remained in detention due to his arrest the previous month by the federal police in another graft case related to the same policy.

Indian media is rife on who will replace him. will get the top job. AAP leader Manish Sisodia is said to be part of the decision making on the matter. He too, who formerly held the post of deputy chief minister has said he will assume office only if reelected by the people.

Its being speculated that in the running are Delhi Minister Atishi who is an Oxford University alumnus and a Rhodes scholar. When Kejriwal and Sisodia were jailed she became the effective voice of AAP.

Saurabh Bharadwaj a three-time MLA from Greater Kailash, Raghav Chadha, 35, among most well known young faces in the country today and Kailash Gahlot a senior member of AAP government are other names being mentioned.