'Hold elections, I will quit politics if you...': Arvind Kejriwal dares BJP after court relief in excise policy case
In the 2025 Delhi assembly elections held in February, the BJP got a decisive win by securing 48 seats, ending the AAP's 10-year rule
- Feb 27, 2026,
- Updated Feb 27, 2026 5:11 PM IST
Hours after a Delhi court discharged him in the excise policy case, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a direct challenge to the Prime Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): test your mandate again.
Also read: 'Too much hype, humans aren't going anywhere': Former HDFC CEO Aditya Puri on AI job fears
On Friday, the Rouse Avenue Court refused to take cognisance of the CBI's chargesheet in the politically charged liquor policy case, discharging Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 21 others. The court said the prosecution had failed to substantiate its allegations with credible evidence and found no prima facie case against the accused.
In a strongly worded order, Special Judge Jitendra Singh pointed to "some misleading averments" and said the voluminous chargesheet contained lacunas not backed by evidence or witnesses. "...the chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of conspiracy theory," the judge said.
He added that in the absence of evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal could not be sustained and that the former chief minister had been implicated without cogent proof, calling it inconsistent with the rule of law.
With the case collapsing at the threshold stage, Kejriwal described it as politically motivated and aimed at removing his party from power. He called it the "biggest political conspiracy in independent India." He alleged that the BJP had hatched it to oust the Aam Aadmi Party from Delhi.
The former chief minister went further, accusing the BJP leadership of misusing power and harming the capital's residents. "The entire Delhi has been ruined. The biggest consequence of PM Modi and Amit Shah's lust for power has been borne by the three crore people of Delhi. Go and ask the people of Delhi."
Then came the challenge. "Today, I challenge Modi ji. If you have the courage, hold elections in Delhi again. If you get more than ten seats, I will quit politics. The people of Delhi are fed up with you people," Kejriwal said.
The AAP supremo said no one should "play with the country and the Constitution in this way" for the sake of power and maintained that the case had no substance from the beginning. "If there was any substance in this, the trial would go on for fifteen or twenty years. Numerous witnesses would be called, and evidence would be presented. The court said it was a frivolous case, so fake, so useless, so wrong. I'm not saying this. These are the court's words," he said.
In the 2025 Delhi assembly elections held in February, the BJP got a decisive win by securing 48 seats, ending the AAP's 10-year rule. This was the BJP's return to power in the national capital after 27 years. AAP managed 22 seats amid anti-incumbency over governance and welfare schemes, while Congress failed to win any. Kejriwal too lost the poll in New Delhi against BJP's Parvesh Verma and Manish Sisodia in Jangpura.
Hours after a Delhi court discharged him in the excise policy case, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a direct challenge to the Prime Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): test your mandate again.
Also read: 'Too much hype, humans aren't going anywhere': Former HDFC CEO Aditya Puri on AI job fears
On Friday, the Rouse Avenue Court refused to take cognisance of the CBI's chargesheet in the politically charged liquor policy case, discharging Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 21 others. The court said the prosecution had failed to substantiate its allegations with credible evidence and found no prima facie case against the accused.
In a strongly worded order, Special Judge Jitendra Singh pointed to "some misleading averments" and said the voluminous chargesheet contained lacunas not backed by evidence or witnesses. "...the chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of conspiracy theory," the judge said.
He added that in the absence of evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal could not be sustained and that the former chief minister had been implicated without cogent proof, calling it inconsistent with the rule of law.
With the case collapsing at the threshold stage, Kejriwal described it as politically motivated and aimed at removing his party from power. He called it the "biggest political conspiracy in independent India." He alleged that the BJP had hatched it to oust the Aam Aadmi Party from Delhi.
The former chief minister went further, accusing the BJP leadership of misusing power and harming the capital's residents. "The entire Delhi has been ruined. The biggest consequence of PM Modi and Amit Shah's lust for power has been borne by the three crore people of Delhi. Go and ask the people of Delhi."
Then came the challenge. "Today, I challenge Modi ji. If you have the courage, hold elections in Delhi again. If you get more than ten seats, I will quit politics. The people of Delhi are fed up with you people," Kejriwal said.
The AAP supremo said no one should "play with the country and the Constitution in this way" for the sake of power and maintained that the case had no substance from the beginning. "If there was any substance in this, the trial would go on for fifteen or twenty years. Numerous witnesses would be called, and evidence would be presented. The court said it was a frivolous case, so fake, so useless, so wrong. I'm not saying this. These are the court's words," he said.
In the 2025 Delhi assembly elections held in February, the BJP got a decisive win by securing 48 seats, ending the AAP's 10-year rule. This was the BJP's return to power in the national capital after 27 years. AAP managed 22 seats amid anti-incumbency over governance and welfare schemes, while Congress failed to win any. Kejriwal too lost the poll in New Delhi against BJP's Parvesh Verma and Manish Sisodia in Jangpura.