Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his naturopathy session in Bangalore. (Source: PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his naturopathy session in Bangalore. (Source: PTI)

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal broke his silence for the first time in 10 days — a period in which his party has seen two of its senior leaders being removed from its highest decision-making body, an ensuing internal battle and the emergence of two stings.

[Also read: AAP government’s report card]

In what seems like a veiled message to the members of his party, he said, “Delhi will be presented as a model.” He ridiculed the idea that the party would win other states as if it were “Napoleon”.

Speaking at an informal cultural event at the Jindal Nature Cure Institute in Bangalore, where he has been undergoing treatment for the past week, Kejriwal said, “…now we have to move forward from here and if we present Delhi as a model, then I feel that it will give rise to a new kind of politics in this country and in the world. I often fight on this issue within the party.”

Interestingly, the question of how and when the AAP will expand to other states has been one of the central issues in the battle currently on in the AAP leadership.

[Timeline: The sting in AAP’s tale]

In their letter to the National Executive, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan have asked that the decision on whether to contest state elections be left to state units. Yadav was also a votary of contesting state elections in Haryana after the Lok Sabha elections, a move that Kejriwal had shot down then.

At his swearing-in speech a month ago, Kejriwal said the party had to contest in Delhi and party members making comments such as the AAP will be contesting in several other states was a sign of “ahankar (hubris)”.

A month after that speech and many controversies later, Kejriwal said, “Everyone says now that we have won Delhi we will win others as well. Are we like Napoleon on a victory march? We have to change the system, so we will have to give a good government and a good system in Delhi. If Delhi changes, I have a belief that the whole country will change. We want you guys to give us your ideas and all of you to participate in this,” he said.

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