Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday joined several Aam Aadmi Party members in calling for introspection over the party’s rout in the MCD polls, saying the loss cannot be blamed only on electronic voting machines even as the party leadership alleged ‘rigging’ of voting machines.
“This is the time to introspect why we had to see this day after two years. Whether it a Modi wave or not, it has become clear that people have not voted for us. Today's reality is we have got very few seats in comparison to the massive mandate we got in 2015. The results cannot be viewed only by blaming the EVMs,” Mishra said.
He also admitted that looking at poll results, a ‘BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) wave’ exists in Delhi.
Interestingly, senior AAP leader and Labour Minister Gopal Rai had said there is 'no Modi wave', but an 'EVM wave', alleging tampering of electronic voting machines.
Several volunteers, the backbone of the party, are also refusing to buy the claims made by the leadership.
An MLA from Central Delhi echoed the minister’s sentiments.
“The reasons are shocking as we did not expect to do so badly. Although the party blames EVMs for the defeat and we need to look into the reasons behind the loss, my view is different. But I shall toe the party line on this,” the MLA said.
In Punjab, party MP Bhagwant Mann said there was no use in finding fault with EVMs and the party should introspect on the reasons behind its defeat in the recent assembly polls.
He also slammed the leadership for ‘behaving like a mohalla (local) cricket team’, and said the AAP had committed a ‘historic blunder’ in Punjab with regard to the overall electoral strategy.
AAP Punjab state convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi also endorsed Mann’s remarks.
After the party won only 20 seats in Punjab, Kejriwal had alleged tampering of EVMs in the polls.
Reacting to Mann’s position on EVMs, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the party would introspect on reasons behind its defeat, but that it does not mean EVMs were not tampered with.
“Looking at the situation, it seems that there is an EVM wave in Delhi,” Sisodia said.
“There is no reason why people should vote for the BJP (in the MCD polls). We will analyse the reasons behind our defeat. We would have understood had there been a difference of 2-4 seats, but the margin between the two parties can only happen by rigging the EVMs,” Sisodia said.
Representative image.
