WE MADE MISTAKES BUT WILL INTROSPECT: KEJRIWAL

Three days after AAP’S defeat in the civic polls, the party chief says in a brief statement on his Twitter handle that the “need is action and not excuses”

Three days after the Aam Aadmi Party’s defeat in the Delhi civic polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday accepted that he has made “mistakes” and said the party will introspect and “course correct”.

In a brief statement shared on his Twitter handle, the national convenor of AAP said: “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 the voters and volunteers. We owe that to ourselves,” he said.

The AAP leader said that action was needed to be taken 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.”

Until now the AAP leader was blaming electronic voting machines (EVMS) for the party’s rout.

“Need is action and not excuses,” he said, amid growing clamour in the party to desist from raking up the issue of EVMS being “tampered with” to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party, an allegation rubbished by the Election Commission.

The AAP was formed on October 2, 2012, after the India Against Corruption movement led by Kejriwal and veteran activist Anna Hazare. The party stormed to power in Delhi with an overwhelming majority of 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly in 2015, gaining prominence in the national stage.

Since then, it has focused on expanding its base beyond the national Capital, but its foray in

Punjab and Goa failed, and the party has also lost its grip over the national Capital in the recent past.

In Punjab, the party did emerge as the primary opposition but the performance did not live up to the expectation.

The BJP on Wednesday swept all the three municipal bodies of Delhi, returning a tally of 181 of the total 270 seats. AAP managed 48 and Congress 30 wards.

Time to go back to the drawing board. To not evolve would be silly. We owe that to the voters and volunteers. We owe that to ourselves. It’s time to get back to work. Arvind Kejriwal