We could not explain to the people why they should vote for us: Kejriwal to party workers

india

Updated: May 30, 2019 04:51 IST

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said his party fared badly in the Lok Sabha election because they were unable to explain to people why one should vote for them.

In an open letter to party volunteers on Wednesday, Kejriwal said: “The results, however, didn’t meet our expectations. Post-election ground analysis has revealed two major reasons. First, the atmosphere that prevailed in the country rubbed off on Delhi as well. Second, people saw this “big election” as between Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and Rahul (Congress president Rahul Gandhi) and voted accordingly,” he said.

“Whatever be the reason, we were not able to explain to the public why they should vote for us in this big election,” the AAP leader said.

Kejriwal’s wrote the letter to his volunteers nearly a week after AAP suffered a crushing defeat in Delhi in the Lok Sabha election, not being able to bag even a single seat.

Riding high on the Modi wave, the BJP, for a second time, won all seven parliamentary seats in Delhi with margins ranging from 2.2 lakh to 5.78 lakh. The Congress, which was routed by AAP in the 2015 assembly elections, climbed up to the second spot with a vote share of 22.5%, which was 7.5 percentage points more than 2014.

The AAP finished third with 18.11% votes, registering a 14.8 percentage point fall in its vote share since the last Lok Sabha polls.

In the letter, Kejriwal lauded his party workers for running a “superb” campaign that was considered to be “one of the best in the country.” He said, on the brighter side, “people have been enthusiastically assuring us that in the small election for the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, they will vote in the name of the incredible work we have done in Delhi”.

The AAP chief also asserted that the Delhi government has not budged from the “corruption-free mission” that brought his party into existence six-and-a-half years ago.

“Despite unleashing the power of all government agencies on my ministers and me, they couldn’t find even a single ‘naya paisa’ worth of corruption. All the cases filed on our 20 MLAs were dismissed by the courts,” he said.

Referring to the various achievements of his government, Kejriwal said he looks forward to the continued support and commitment of his party workers in the Assembly elections, slated to be held early next year.

The CM also informed AAP volunteers that flagship projects of the Delhi government have now gained momentum because files beyond the reserved subjects of land, public order and police do not have to be sent to the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) anymore.

“The Supreme Court having removed one hurdle, we do not need to send files for LG’s approval and are able to get even more work done within our jurisdiction. Doorstep delivery of government services, revival of 200+ lakes ... are being received very well by the public,” he wrote.