Swear by party, don’t fall for BJP’s lures: Kejriwal to AAP councillors

Scarred by a humiliating defeat in the Delhi corporation elections and threatened with internal strife, a beleaguered Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday surprised many of his newly-elected councillors by administering a pledge, asking them to be loyal to the “pious party” and the movement that gave birth to the party.

Addressing 48 councillors, Kejriwal said, “I say, and repeat after me – That with God as my witness, I will never betray this pious party or movement, no matter what the inducement is.”

“We were people of the street. It is with God’s blessings that we have now come to occupy the Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister’s slot. We have to earn the trust that people have reposed on us…So no matter what they offer you – the BJP has a lot of money; they may give you ₹10 crore — don’t betray the party. You will never be happy. You will never be able to enjoy that bribe.”

The Chief Minister was prescriptive throughout his 10-minute address. “Work like you are the father of the ward. Keep good relations with the MLA to ensure smooth functioning. Be like a family member to the

safaikaramchari s — they are the poorest and the most exploited of the lot. And they are your strength,” he said.

The AAP, which won 67 of the 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly in the elections of 2015, only managed to secure a fourth of the wards won by rival BJP in the civic polls. With reports of the BJP trying to break AAP MLAs, Kejriwal was open in advising his new councillors to be vigilant against such allurements. “Keep the recorder on your phone on all the time. Record what you are being offered and hold a press conference later,” he said.

Divide in the open

Cracks have begun appearing in the party, with Punjab MP Bhagwant Mann criticising the management of recent Assembly elections in the State, and popular campaigner Kumar Vishwas attacking Kejriwal’s defence of AAP members accused of corruption.

The AAP’s Punjab election in-charge Sanjay Singh resigned in the wake of Mann’s attack while Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba said she too would step down as no candidate from the wards in her constituency had won. Labour Minister Gopal Rai will reportedly be the party’s new Convenor for Delhi, after Dilip Pandey quit following the poll debacle.

At a meeting of party MLAs, convened by Kejriwal at his residence on Thursday, the Delhi CM also asked the MLAs to go back to the people and introspect on the reasons for the party’s poor performance. “In the meeting, it was decided that MLAs will go back to people and try to find out where has been a communication gap between the legislators and them,” AAP legislator Vishesh Ravi said after the meeting.

The EVM manipulation issue also came up for discussion. “The AAP will soon decide its future course of action on this issue. At present, related evidence (pertaining to EVM manipulation) is being gathered,” Ravi said.