Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot’s walkout from Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party was the culmination of a rift that had its genesis in the division of portfolios held by Manish Sisodia after he was arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case. Mr Sisodia, then Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, held the maximum number of portfolios – 18 — that not only included the flagship health and education, but also law, revenue and power, water, finance and home.
After his arrest in March last year, most of these portfolios were divided between Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi, who is now the Chief Minister of Delhi.
In December, the Law and Justice Department was taken away from Mr Gehlot and given to Atishi. People close to Mr Gahlot said it became clear then that the top leadership of the party does not have much confidence in Mr Gahlot.
It was the beginning of Mr Gahlot’s standoff with the current Chief Minister that suddenly came to public notice during the flag-hoisting ceremony of Independence Day.
Mr Kejriwal, who was in jail at the time, had delegated the task to Atishi – a choice that made clear her prominence in the party and sparked speculation that she might be the one to succeed him in the top post.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, however intervened, and handed the job to Mr Gahlot, who complied without any conciliatory words to Mr Kejriwal or Atishi.
In his resignation letter, Mr Gahlot has attributed his decision to the “dwindling credibility” of AAP on the issue of cleaning of Yamuna and ‘Sheeshmahal’ – a pejorative term used by the BJP for the chief minister’s renovated residence.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused Mr Gehlot of reading the script of BJP.
Mr Kejriwal has maintained silence on the resignation. At a press conference to welcome former BJP MLA Anil Jha to AAP, Mr Kejriwal was asked about Mr Gehlot’s sudden resignation.
But the former Chief Minister refused to respond, passing the mic to senior party leader Durgesh Pathak, who was sitting next to him.
Mr Pathak said Kailash Gehlot was being questioned and raided by the ED and Income Tax Department for several months. Other party leaders had not minced words, saying openly that Mr Gahlot could not withstand the pressure and decided to go with the flow.
“Kailash Gehlot was being pressurised through ED-CBI raids and he is speaking according to BJP’s script. Modi washing machine has started working before the Delhi elections. Now many leaders will be inducted into BJP through this,” Sanjay Singh had said.