Gloom, despair as workers look within for answers to debacle
A sense of despair descended upon the Aam Aadmi Party office at Delhi’s Rouse Avenue as results of the municipal elections poured in.
The party workers present there were aware they had lost the battle but seemed to be in constant denial. Flustered, they workers scouted for answers and explanations for their defeat.
Their phones rang constantly, their defence centered around ‘tampered’ EVMs, RSS and goons-backed BJP, echoing in a rather empty office.
Each spokesperson occupied one room and sat before cameras, giving live updates. Poll sheets spread across their tables, constantly monitoring TV screens, maybe hoping for a miracle. “There is still time,” a worker had said much before the final results , his eyes glued to the screen.
The party workers who were earlier jotting down numbers and doing the math to calculate the margins were now busy managing the media, queuing up for bytes. “Chain the gate . We need no more people,” one of them shouted. Two people were soon deployed at the gate .
No one at the office addressed direct questions and claimed that tampering of EVMs was the only explanation they had to offer.
“We have been saying the EVMs are being tampered with since the beginning. The high court and the Supreme Court have also said that they are not fool proof. We are not using this as a scapegoat. We know for sure that this has happened,” AAP spokesperson Ashutosh said.
“On the other hand, the AAP government has worked a lot in the health and education sectors. It reduced water and electricity tariffs,” he added.
Raghav Chaddha backed the argument. “We are not blaming EVMs because we lost. We had been arguing this for a long time . We have just been proven right.”
Asked whether the mandate is a referendum on Kejriwal, Chaddha said, “If this is a referendum, then when Modi lost panchayat elections in his constituency, that too was a referendum? When Shiela Dikshit lost MCD despite being in power, that too was a referendum?”
Breaking the momentum, a person barged inside the office, claiming to be one of the founding members. He was angry. He claimed he was not given a ticket and he accused the party of being dictatorial.
“When the party was founded, I was a core member. I held meetings at my house, fed these people and now they are no letting me enter . They lost because of their attitude. They take decisions among themselves. I joined them because they said it will be a party of the people,” he shouted.
No one had the time to lend an ear to the man. He was asked to leave. “Do you think they (AAP workers) have time for this? They are all busy on TV. Please leave and come after this settles down,” the guard told him nonchalantly.