Chief Minister of Delhi Resigns Amid Contentious Corruption Case
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, pictured above, has been one of India’s most well-known opposition leaders (Wikimedia Commons).
Long-time Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, a key member of the Indian opposition, stepped down as Chief Minister of Delhi on September 17, just two days after leaving prison on bail for highly controversial corruption charges, according to BBC. The Guardian reports that the embattled politician maintained his post throughout his five-month incarceration, a decision critics have condemned as politically motivated.
According to AP News, India’s federal financial crimes division, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), first arrested Kejriwal, a staunch critic of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in late March 2024, just a few weeks before the country’s quadrennial general elections kicked off on April 19. Investigators at the BJP-led ED alleged that Kejriwal, along with two other formerly jailed AAP leaders, took bribes in exchange for issuing liquor licenses in 2021, writes the Deccan Herald.
AP News reports that the timing of the case invited widespread consternation from opposition leaders and supporters. They argued, according to the Indian Express, that Kejriwal’s arrest was part of a larger crackdown by BJP officials against political competition; they also pointed to the AAP’s growing political prominence as evidence, according to Time. Kejriwal founded the AAP (Hindi for “common man’s party”) in 2011, campaigning on a platform of anti-corruption and welfare efforts, writes Reuters. His party has since grown into one of North India’s key parties, states BBC, having retained power in Delhi almost consecutively since 2013. Adding to the AAP’s portfolio are its subsequent policy and electoral successes. The party has received international attention, writes the New York Times, as a viable challenger to long-standing political incumbents. Despite being a relative political outsider, reports the Quint, it successfully expanded its rule to nearby Punjab in the 2022 state assembly elections and achieved, according to Times of India, a highly popular overhaul of New Delhi public schools during its tenure. These successes have set the AAP apart from many of its predecessors, including the BJP’s main national opponent, the once-dominant Indian National Congress (popularly known as the Congress Party), which has waned considerably in recent years due to voter disillusionment. According to the New York Times, this has amplified long-term BJP concerns about the AAP’s potential to become a major national opponent.
The AAP thus represents a considerable political force, particularly in light of the party’s collaboration with other opposition parties. NDTV reports that the AAP joined hands with over 25 anti-BJP opposition parties through the India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.), a wide-reaching political coalition formed in July 2023, in anticipation of the 2024 general election. I.N.D.I.A. members resolved, according to the Hindustan Times, to form a united opposition front, jointly contesting the 2024 general elections in all possible constituencies. According to Aljazeera, if member parties collectively garnered enough seats to form a minority coalition government, they would have unseated the BJP. The alliance remains standing today.
Even with the cross-party opposition, writes the Economist, the BJP remained immensely popular at the time of Kejriwal’s arrest, both among homegrown Indians and the overseas diaspora. According to Reuters, I.N.D.I.A.’s odds of influencing national-level electoral outcomes were relatively slim; pre-election polls indicated that the BJP and allied parties would enjoy a resounding victory in the 2024 general elections, securing 335 of 543 available lower-chamber seats.
This forecasted dominance merely added to the unease surrounding Kejriwal and other opposition politicians’ arrests, as there seemed to be little reason for the BJP to crack down so fiercely. Not only did AAP politicians face arrest, reports Reuters, but tax authorities also abruptly froze the Congress Party’s bank accounts in February 2024 due to apparent irregularities in 2017-18 filings. As per the Economist, this led to speculation that the BJP hoped to pre-emptively stifle dissent and weaken its political opponents.
Recent events have caused the BJP some worry, reports the Indian Express. According to BBC, The general election itself was a surprise and dealt a severe blow to the BJP, which lost its outright majority in parliament and remained in power only through alliances with several regional parties. Moreover, writes the Guardian, a Supreme Court ruling subsequently ordered Kejriwal’s release five months after his initial arrest, stating that his protracted jail time, the product of a second graft case brought forward in June 2024, was akin to “deprivation of liberty.”
Of his resignation, according to BBC, Kejriwal has said that with “justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people’s court.” His comments refer to the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, which are set to take place in February 2025. Both Kejriwal and his successor, AAP minister Atishi, have urged Delhiites to cast their ballots for the AAP, saying that Kejriwal will return as Chief Minister if the party wins re-election, according to Times of India.
According to the Deccan Herald, while Kejriwal has framed his resignation as an opportunity for public vindication, the reasons underlying his decision are far more complex. Perhaps most importantly, writes NDTV, the conditions of his court-ordered bail significantly diminished his ability to govern, barring him from visiting his office, partaking in standard meetings, or signing documents without the approval of Delhi Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena, a BJP official. As the Deccan Herald further reports, Kejriwal had little option but to resign, calling into question whether his release was truly an opposition victory or yet another strike in the BJP’s favor.