The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Made mistakes, back to the drawing board, says Kejriwal
In a shift from blaming ‘faulty’ EVMS, Chief Minister says need of the hour is ‘action, not excuses’
MCD POLLS AFTERMATH
REMINISCENT OF the apology following the 2014 Lok Sabha poll rout, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal issued a statement early Saturday morning, in the wake of a string of electoral reverses, admitting that the party “made mistakes” and “will introspect and course correct”.
In what comes as a sharp change in the political posturing of the party, moving from blaming “faulty” Electronic Voting Machines (EVMS) to accepting “mistakes”, AAP hopes to regain lost ground as it sets out to reach volunteers and voters afresh.
“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 the 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,” Kejriwal tweeted on Saturday.
Even as the allegations of “faulty” EVMS have boomeranged as “excuses”, and volunteers and a section of the party have confronted Kejriwal about it, sources close to the AAP chief said that “Kejriwal will not entirely drop the allegations but focus on strengthening the party organisation and its outreach strategies”.
Following the drubbing in the Punjab and Goa Assembly elections, Rajouri Garden bypolls and the Delhi municipal polls, the party has had a reality check of its dipping vote share and popularity. Marathon meetings are being held at Kejriwal’s official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road, where he has been interacting with volunteers, MLAS and the senior party leadership in batches.
The Political Affairs Committee (PAC)— the highest decision-making body of the party — is set to meet again at Kejriwal’s residence on Sunday morning to discuss the future course of action. In the last PAC meeting on Thursday, intense debates and discussions were held on the “validity” of the “tampered EVMS” argument put forward by the party since the Punjab poll defeat. A “course correction” was agreed upon by PAC members and, as a first step, Kejriwal on Saturday reached out to voters promising “action and not excuses”.
After the 2014 parliamentary elections, when AAP fielded over 430 candidates but won just four seats, Kejriwal had apologised for “quitting” abruptly from the post of Delhi Chief Minister after 49 days. In preparation of the next Assembly polls in early 2015, Kejriwal reached out to voters by apologising and seeking “a majority to form the country’s first corruption-free government”.
Following his admission of “mistakes” on Saturday, Kejriwal was snubbed by BJP state unit chief Manoj Tiwari, who told reportersthat“kejriwalhasarecord of making mistakes and seeking apology”. Responding to Tiwari, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh told The Sunday Express, “So if we do not admit our mistake, then we are arrogant. If we admit our mistake and apologise, then we do not mean it. How is it that we are wrong any which way?”