More than remorse, AAP boss infamous for his apologies

Apologising for recurring mistakes is a trend with Arvind Kejriwal. On Saturday morning he looked in an apologetic mood and accepted his mistakes. But this wasn’t the first time he did so.
Police take away Kejriwal during an AAP protest in Delhi
Police take away Kejriwal during an AAP protest in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Apologising for recurring mistakes is a trend with Arvind Kejriwal. On Saturday morning he looked in an apologetic mood and accepted his mistakes. But this wasn’t the first time he did so.
Facing criticism from various quarters for Delhi MCD poll debacle, the Delhi CM acknowledged in an early morning tweet that the need of the hour for him is “action and not excuses”.

On Saturday, he said that based on his interactions with volunteers and voters, it was obvious the party made mistakes and there was a need to go back to the drawing board. “It’s time to get back to work. And, 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,” he tweeted.
During his 49-day tenure as chief minister of Delhi in 2014, he had apologised and promised not to quit again.

After ink was splashed on himi March
2014 in Varanasi

In April 2015, he was slammed by all parties, including the Congress and the BJP, for continuing his rally after a farmer from Rajasthan, Gajendra Singh, committed suicide at Jantar Mantar while Kejriwal was speaking. Kejriwal apologised. “I think I was wrong, I should not have gone ahead with my speech and called off the rally. I apologise if I hurt anyone,” he had said.

In July 2015, he apologised for using calling Delhi Police personnel “thulla”. His appology was, “If our honest police officers’ emotions got hurt by this word, I apologise to them for my remark (thulla),” Kejriwal had told a news channel.
Commenting on the Kejriwal’s tweet on Saturday, Vijender Gupta, Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly said it is obvious that his accepting mistakes is for the consumption of his party volunteers and is a planned ploy to divert the revolt against his leadership in the AAP.

“If he is sincere, he should resign as national convener of AAP and CM for suffering humiliating defeats in the recent elections in Punjab, Goa and Delhi. Kejriwal has not only lost the moral grounds to head the party but also to hold the post of CM for violating the oath of his office that he will do in accordance with the Constitution and law without ill will,” Gupta said.
Only a day earlier, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas had remarked that the party did not lose the elections because of EVMs. “People did not vote for us in enough number. There is mistrust among the people for us,” he said.

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