India's anti-corruption champion resigns after two months in Delhi job

Arvind Kejriwal quits as capital’s chief minister but vows to teach main parties a lesson at the general election

theguardian.com, Jason Burke in Delhi, Saturday 15 February 2014

Delhi's chief ninister Arvind Kejriwal waves his resignation letter as he addresses
party supporters in the city on Friday Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images

The former tax inspector and activist who became Delhi’s new chief minister, the top elected official in the Indian capital, has resigned less than two months after his surprise election victory following the failure of the local assembly to pass a flagship anti-corruption law.

Arvind Kejriwal’s new Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party rode a wave of popular anger at poor services, rising prices and endemic graft to win 28 seats in Delhi’s 70 member assembly in December.

It pushed through a series of radical measures and shook the city’s political establishment with controversial protest-style politics including sit-ins to protest police inaction and vigilante raids on the homes of alleged sex workers.

But on Friday the AAP’s leader and all elected members resigned.

“Everyone in the AAP is very happy with this decision. There is clearly no point in being in government when you can’t pursue your core agenda,” said Aatishi Marlena, a senior policy official in the party.

Representatives from the Congress party, in power at a national level, had joined those from the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to block Kejriwal’s bid to bring in new laws creating a powerful anti-corruption ombudsman in the capital.

The AAP is now expected to field hundreds of candidates in the coming general election, due before the end of May, and is hoping to win a rerun of the Delhi poll that is likely to be held at the same time.

“The public mood is definitely with the AAP,” said Marlena.

The AAP won support among Delhi’s working class and liberal elite. Within weeks of taking power Kejriwal had sharply reduced prices of public utilities, moved hundreds of officials who were suspected of corruption out of key jobs, refused luxurious housing that is a perk of his job and ordered ministers to do without red beacons mounted on cars, which cause great popular resentment.

Analysts say the AAP has the potential to radically change Indian politics – or to implode, leaving little trace.

Almost all the candidates of the AAP were political debutants and included a rickshaw driver, a lawyer and a TV actor.

Anna Hazare, the veteran activist who led the major anti-graft movement which led to the formation of the AAP, said last night he regretted Kejriwal’s decision.

During a rowdy session in the Delhi assembly, Kejriwal told representatives that it was better to “”fight corruption than to run a government”.

Later the 45 year old told supporters outside the party headquarters in central Delhi that the “ BJP and Congress have joined hands.”

“We say eradicate corruption. [The] people will teach them a lesson,” Kejriwal said.

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