Party members blame 'lame' excuses such as EVM tampering accusation, and unnecessary focus on other states by Kejriwal for the debacle; Many offer to resign
The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) disappointing performance in the municipal elections triggered turmoil within the party on Wednesday, with several MLAs accusing the leadership of making "lame" excuses. The party had alleged that Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) were tampered with during the election.
AAP won 48 out of 272 seats across the city.
Dejected after the colossal defeat, many AAP members said serious introspection was required to fix the responsibility for the debacle. At the same time, sources said Kejriwal was furious with his Cabinet ministers for failing to convince the voters regarding the development work done by their government.
Senior AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, and Ashutosh, had vehemently raked up the EVM manipulation issue as soon as the trends for civic body polls started trickling in. According to party sources, several MLAs were disappointed when the leaders "unnecessarily" started blaming EVMs to save themselves from accountability. The party had also raised the EVM tampering issue after its defeat in the recent Assembly elections in Punjab and Goa.
AAP MLA from north Delhi's Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba, who offered to resign from her position, said: "EVMs are not a problem in my area. We will support those elected by the people. I know what the ground reality was and where we faltered. I take complete responsibility."
Later in the day, party's Delhi convenor Dilip Pandey also announced his resignation from the post through a tweet. "I have resigned from the post of AAP Delhi Convenor, conveyed to National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal to give this responsibility to someone else," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, the party office at Rouse Avenue remained deserted throughout the day with media personnel far outnumbering the volunteers. Unlike he BJP office, no screen was set up here to track the trend. "Things would have been different if the party had not rushed to other states and focussed on the people of Delhi," a volunteer said.
Later in the day, AAP Chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the BJP through a carefully-worded tweet.
What went wrong
AAP's confrontational politics.
Lashing out against the PM and the LG.
Expansion plans in other states.
The EVM rant.
Inaccessibility of Arvind Kejriwal and other ministers.
Sandeep Kumar's sex scandal and state Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar's fake degree.
AAP minister Satyendra Jain's nepotism.
Formation of a spy unit to snoop on bureaucrats, journalists, and others.
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