Delhi Election 2025: Can legal cases bar Arvind Kejriwal from becoming CM if AAP wins?
Delhi Election 2025: The Election Commission is yet to announce the poll dates, but speculations are rife about whether Arvind Kejriwal will be eligible to take the CM post if the AAP wins.
Will AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal get the chief minister's post back if his party wins the 2025 assembly elections? The answer is that he can become the chief minister but may not take charge this time.
The reason behind this could be the same as why he resigned as the Delhi chief minister in the first place.
The assembly elections in Delhi will be held in February next year. There are 70 assembly seats in Delhi. The AAP will be in a triangular contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
The Election Commission is yet to announce the poll dates, but speculations are rife about whether Kejriwal will be eligible to take the CM post, keeping in view the legal cases against him, if the AAP emerges victorious.
The Kejriwal story
Arvind Kejriwal was the chief minister of Delhi for around 10 years. He first assumed office in 2013 with outside support from the Congress. He was the chief minister till 2014 when the President's rule was imposed. The AAP chief returned to the CM post in 2015.
Kejriwal won the 2015 and 2020 Delhi assembly elections and continued to govern the national capital until 2024 when the AAP was hit by an alleged Delhi excise policy ‘scam’ controversy.
The AAP chief was arrested in March 2024 in connection with a money laundering case and a corruption case linked to the Delhi excise policy.
But this didn't shake Kejriwal. He remained adamant about not leaving the CM post despite several calls from his opponents to do so because he was a "jailed" CM. The Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor didn't bow out until the Supreme Court granted him bail.
Kejriwal stepped down from the post on September 17, days after the Supreme Court released him in cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy 'scam'. But this bail was granted on several terms and conditions.
The Supreme Court imposed five bail conditions on Kejriwal, two of which hampered his role as the Delhi CM. These were:
1. He shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat.
2. He shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
Taking note of these conditions, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit, who is contesting against Kejriwal from New Delhi seat in 2025 polls, said on December 23, “He [Arvind Kejriwal] can't become the CM anyways, for him, I don't think it is possible to even become an MLA…even if he takes oath as CM, he can't sign files, attend meetings, or go to the CM office, as per the Supreme Court's instructions…”
Besides this, experts deemed Kejriwal's decision to resign as a move to "reclaim the moral high ground". Rahul Verma, political analyst and fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), said earlier, “Had he [Kejriwal] resigned while being in jail, we would have thought that it was because of his failure to govern. But since he is out of jail, it seems more likely due to high moral ground reasons.”
These reasons may hold back Kejriwal from taking over the CM post. But...
Kejriwal eligible Delhi CM if AAP wins
No law hinders a person from holding the chief minister's post until he/she is convicted of any crime. In the eyes of the law, every Indian citizen, including a CM, is a common person. According to law, the CM is not legally prohibited from holding office while under investigation.
When the Opposition BJP called for Kejriwal's resignation during his arrest, the Supreme Court said it was a matter of propriety, but there was no legal right to remove Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest.
In his speech in September, Kejriwal said that he and his second-in-command, former Delhi minister Manish Sisodia, will assume the key posts in the government only after regaining the 'honest' tag. He vowed not to sit in CM's chair till people give him a "certificate of honesty" by making AAP victorious again in the assembly elections next year.
"I will sit on the CM's chair only after being elected. The elections are supposed to be held in February 2025...” Kejriwal had said in his address to the party workers.
If the AAP wins the 2025 Delhi polls and wants to bring back Kejriwal to the CM post, the situation will be similar to that of TDP Andhra leader Chandrababu Naidu's skill development 'scam' case. Naidu was arrested just months before the state assembly elections. But he was granted bail later. He became the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in June 2024.
Kejriwal or Atishi or someone else for CM?
Amid speculations about whether Kejriwal could run for the Delhi CM post, Atishi seems to be doing the top job quite peacefully.
In a rare spectacle, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena praised Atishi for her work as the CM but went on to take potshots at AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
"I am very happy that the Chief Minister of Delhi is a woman. I can say with confidence that she is a thousand times better than her predecessor...," Saxena said while addressing the 7th Convocation of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women.
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Business NewsElectionsAssembly ElectionsDelhi Election 2025: Can legal cases bar Arvind Kejriwal from becoming CM if AAP wins?
First Published:25 Dec 2024, 03:49 PM IST
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