A month after the debacle in the Assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kerjiwal appeared in a political programme at the party office to mark Shaheed Diwas on Sunday and said his party entered politics to fulfil the dreams of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and social reformer Bhimrao Ambedkar, and not for power.

This is the first time Kejriwal appeared at an event in Delhi organised by the party since the results. After the debacle in the Delhi Assembly polls, Kejriwal has not been seen at any public events.

The buzz started after the AAP announced that its Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora would contest the Ludhiana West bypoll. The Congress and the BJP were quick to point out that the move was to pave the way for Kejriwal’s Rajya Sabha seat. The AAP immediately denied the speculation with a one-line statement. The party also scotched rumours about him becoming the Punjab Chief Minister.

Speaking at the AAP’s ‘Ek Shaam Shaheedon Ke Naam’ event here, Kejriwal accused the ruling BJP of disregarding the legacy of the two icons after coming to power in the national capital. The event was organised to pay tributes to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev to commemorate Shaheedi Diwas.

“Our role models are Babasaheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh. Bhagat Singh used to say that merely removing the British was not enough, the structure of society had to change. Otherwise, brown rulers would replace the British.

“This is exactly what has happened. Today’s rulers are worse than the British,” Kejriwal said.Within 48 hours of assuming power in Delhi, the BJP removed portraits of Bhagat Singh and Ambedkar from government offices.

“I want to ask them if there is anyone who has sacrificed more for the country than Bhagat Singh,” he said. Kejriwal also criticised the BJP government for allegedly restricting the free bus ride scheme for women in Delhi. Bus conductors are now denying free pink tickets to women unless they download an app, the former chief minister claimed.

“Why are they doing this? Instead of improving facilities, they are withdrawing the existing ones. By now, they should have started giving `2,500 to women but they have not,” he said, accusing the BJP of failing to fulfil its poll promises.

Senior party leader Gopal Rai said the AAP was born out of struggle and will continue its mission across the country.

“Our defeat in Delhi happened due to tactics but our strength is our dedicated workers. They thought we would be finished but we will make a comeback across the country with double strength,” the former minister said.

Newly appointed AAP Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said while the AAP’s victory in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls was met with celebrations across the city, the BJP’s win did not evoke the same response.

“Their MLAs are surprised by their victory,” he said, accusing the BJP of using police, Election Commission and money power to win the polls.