NEW DELHI: A day after the humiliating defeat in municipal polls in Delhi, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) went into introspection mode while chalking out future plans for the party.
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday called a meeting of the party leaders at his residence which was attended by nearly all the MLAs of the party. Sources said that the meeting was basically meant to introspect on the reason behind defeat and chalk out further plans to improve the track record.
Sources said that a section of leaders agreed that EVMs had nothing to do with the poor performance of the party in civic bodies polls in Delhi. Many legislators were of the view that they were expecting such kind of results given the fact that the fight in Delhi was triangular between three major parties—BJP, Congress and AAP. They also conveyed the message to the leadership that they had hardly any doubt on the functioning of electronic voting machines, said a party insider.
Even on Wednesday, on the day when results came out, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal refrained from speaking on electronic voting machines (EVMs) after the MCD election result. Rather he had congratulated the BJP.
In Thursday’s meeting, AAP leadership was also of the view that they lost the election more because of BJP’s remarkable performance in recently held assembly polls of UP and Uttarakhand where party registered landslide victory more because of Modi wave. The AAP leadership also accepted the ever-growing appeal PM Narendra Modi among masses is one of the main reasons behind its defeat.
Sources said that Kejriwal also guided newly elected councilors to be vigilant, be honest and be brave. He urged the newly-appointed councillors to join him in a pledge of loyalty to the party, while clarifying that this was not a formality.
“As god is my witness, I swear never to betray this pious party or this (anti-corruption) movement," Kejriwal lead the pledge, which was dutifully chanted by the newly elected councilors. He urged the leaders to ensure a check on corruption in the civic bodies by raising their voice against it.
Speaking to leaders, Kejriwal warned them that the BJP may, allegedly, try to buy them over. They may offer you even Rs 10 crore, he said, adding that God will squeeze out a bigger amount from those who will betray the party.
Amidst the buzz that morale among the party workers and volunteers are at its lowest position, Kejriwal on Thursday sought to keep the flock together while telling them to be united. He urged the newly elected members and MLAs to stick together as a family and stay united with the party's common workers.
Defeat in Delhi municipal has come as a blow for the party which has been bruised by electoral results in Goa and Punjab, where Kejriwal and his team of leaders campaigned vigorously. Even as the AAP was at number 2 position with winning 48 wards but it registered huge slip as the vote share of the AAP decreased almost by half from 54.3 percent in the 2015 assembly polls to nearly 26.2 percent in the MCD polls.