Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday shared a post on Twitter saying that the party "made many mistakes" but it was time to "introspect and course correct." This comes amid reports of a widening rift within the party after its loss in the Delhi civic polls.
"In the last 2 days, I spoke to many volunteers and voters. The reality is obvious. Yes, we made mistakes but we will introspect and course correct. Time to go back to drawing board. To not evolve would be silly. We owe that to voters and volunteers. We owe that to ourselves. Need is action and not excuses. It's time to get back to work. And even if we slip from time to time, the key is to find the reserves to hold and pull ourselves up. The people deserve nothing less. The only thing constant is change. Jai Hind," Kejriwal's post read.
In the last 2 days .... pic.twitter.com/0quqxJtNAt
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 29, 2017
Senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas had said a day earlier that there was a "communication gap" between the party and its volunteers and voters and that the party was getting "Congressionised" to a certain extent. The AAP had been consistently alleging that tampering of EVMs was the cause of their defeat in the polls and that the machines were rigged in favour of the BJP.
However, the party did not talk about it in detail at its first meeting to take stock of the situation after the loss in the MCD polls. The party did not repeat the EVM tampering allegations while congratulating the ruling BJP for its win in the polls. The BJP regained power in all three corporations having won 181 wards, while the AAP managed to win only 48 wards. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has a total of 272 wards.
Kejriwal administered a pledge of "loyalty" to his councillors at his residence saying: "No anti-defection law governs the corporations. So the BJP will try to lure you away. Always keep your phones on recording mode so that you can expose such attempts later. They may even offer you Rs 10 crore as they have a lot of money."
He added that betraying the AAP or this movement would be equivalent to "betraying God". Kejriwal further added that volunteers formed the backbone of the party and, therefore, should not be "turned away" if and when they come with requests. "Keep in mind that they come with requests of the people of their respective areas," the Delhi CM had said.
