Days after a crushing defeat in the MCD polls on AAP’s home turf in Delhi, party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called for a need to “introspect and course correct”.
In a tweet on 29 April, Kejriwal said:
In the last two 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.
“It’s time to get back to work,” he wrote.
Need is action and not excuses... 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 constant is change.
Kejriwal’s message comes in the wake of a wave of intrigue and dissatisfaction among party cadre over the AAP’s conduct during the MCD polls.
Vishwas Looks Beyond EVMs to Explain Poll Losses
The divide within the AAP over its leadership's claim of EVM rigging appeared to widen on 28 April, with senior leader Kumar Vishwas pointing to reasons beyond the party's official stand to explain its recent poll defeats.
Vishwas, a member of party's top decision making body, the Political Affairs Committee, said there has been a "communication gap" between the party, its volunteers and voters. The AAP is getting "Congressionised" to an extent, he said.
"There has been a communication gap between volunteers and the party leadership. We should first decide whom did we start our fight with. (Is it) corruption, the Congress, Narendra Modi or the EVMs?
"Should we run a campaign to change electoral process? Problems in the EVMs are a part of elections. It be should be questioned," Kumar said in an interview to Aaj Tak.
The poet-turned-politician also differed with party convenor and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over asking proof for surgical strike after the Uri terror attack last year. He said during instances like terror attacks and surgical strikes, political parties should work shoulder-to-shoulder without seeing who is at the helm of affairs.
Also read: MCD Election Result: AAP Should Accept Defeat and Move On
Gopal Rai Appointed AAP's New Delhi Convenor
The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday appointed Labour Minister Gopal Rai its new convenor of the Delhi unit, a day after it suffered a humiliating defeat in the MCD polls.
The decision to appoint Rai as the party's Delhi unit chief was taken in AAP's Political Affairs Committee meeting which lasted until midnight. Rai will have a task cut out after the party's defeat in the recently held Rajouri Garden by-polls and MCD elections.
Sources said he has been asked to come up with a road map to bolster party's prospects in the city. The party also accepted resignations of AAP's Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh and co-incharge Durgesh Pathak after the party's poor performance in the state polls. The AAP had bagged 20 seats in the state polls held early this year, much below its expectations. Resignations of AAP's Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey and Delhi incharge Ashish Talwar were also accepted.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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