Boosting the morale of the hard hit Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) volunteers after an unexpected loss in Punjab and Goa, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said that winning or losing in elections is part of “political adventure” thus “there was no reason for the party to give up”.
Kejriwal who has questioned the reliability of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) charted the AAP’s journey from a movement to a political party while urging the AAP volunteers to “keep the faith” alive.
Kejriwal and his team has planned to hold some interactions. He will also be interacting with the volunteers through Facebook live on March 18, said an AAP leader said.
“We will need time to fully understand the ‘why and how’ of these results. However, before thinking about what next, we need to understand that winning and losing will be part of our political adventure. The BJP has 18 seats and 20 per cent vote share in Karnataka and the Congress 15 seats and 18 per cent vote share in Maharashtra. They have not given up and there is no reason for us to give up,” Kejriwal wrote in a letter which has been e-mailed to all registered volunteers.
The letter, however, does not have any mention to the issue of alleged rigging of voting machines in Punjab as raked up by the AAP chief.
“Although we did not get the expected results, we are now the Opposition in Punjab. Also we have got six per cent votes in Goa and we are just one State away from becoming a national party,” he said.
Kejriwal has alleged that EVM tampering may have led to the transfer of around 20-25 per cent of the AAP votes to the SAD-BJP combine.
“You believed in us when we took our first baby step, had no experience in contesting elections, and did not know whether we could win even a single seat. Keep the faith, keep up the fight, Hum honge kamyaab,” he added.