NEW DELHI: Anti-graft activist Arvind Kejriwal says he has resigned as the top elected official in the New Delhi state government after lawmakers blocked the introduction of a bill to create a strong ombudsman in the Indian capital.
Kejriwal’s resignation Friday came after the Congress party, which backed his 49-day-old minority government, voted with the opposition to block the bill.
He told his supporters that the Congress party was scared that its officials who had ruled the Indian capital for the past 10 years would be prosecuted on corruption charges if the law came into force.
Kejriwal has led protests and hunger strikes against government corruption. They include sit-ins demanding public access to government documents, lower electricity rates and transfer of control of the New Delhi police from the federal Home Ministry.
Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit accused Kejriwal of being a “negative person, a glib-talker and a smooth liar who was looking for an excuse to run away.”
He was never serious about governing and his resignation was well anticipated, alleged Dikshit.
“He (Kejriwal) was looking at an excuse to run away. He tried to subvert the Constitution and was a smooth liar. He lied through his teeth while attacking Congress,” Dikshit alleged, adding: “He was never serious about governing and the exit of his government marks the end of a big drama. He will find any excuse to run away, to act like a martyr.”
