Arvind Kejriwal tells leaders why he plans to quit as CM now
AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal is set to resign as chief minister on Tuesday.
Kejriwal convened a meeting of the political affairs committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, on Monday evening to discuss threadbare his decision to quit the top post and the probable names. The four Cabinet ministers were also invited for the meeting. Emerging from the meeting, senior minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, «The chief minister had convened the meeting of PAC and also called the Cabinet ministers. He held one-on-one discussions with all the members of PAC and the ministers. This will now be carried forward with a second round of meetings with MLAs on Tuesday morning.»
According to sources, Kejriwal conveyed to the senior leaders the reasoning and timing of his decision to resign. A senior leader, who did not wish to be identified, told ET, «The timing has confused the party cadres who are unable to understand why is the chief minister quitting now. If at all he had to resign he could have when he was sent to jail.» Sources said that Kejriwal went to great extent to explain this to the senior leaders present in the political affairs committee meeting. He told leaders that quitting at the time of imprisonment would have been seen as admission of guilt for a crime he had not committed.
Kejriwal has called a meeting of MLAs at 11.30 am on Tuesday at his residence. The name of the new chief minister will be discussed at the meeting. After this meeting, he will tender his resignation to lieutenant-governor
