Crestfallen Kejriwal shuts himself up in room -Governance Now

Crestfallen Kejriwal shuts himself up in room

We had never imagined such a dismal show, says AAP activist

Ankita Sharma | March 11, 2017 | New Delhi

#Shiromani Akali Dal #Congress #Punjab #Arvind Kejriwal #Durgesh Pathak #AAP #political news

As the votes got counted and the results by 11 am indicated a drubbing for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa and Punjab, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal shut himself up in his room.

The Punjab election result is out. The Congress has swept Punjab with 77 seats, followed by AAP winning 23 and Shiromani Akali Dal getting 16 seats. The sprawling residence of Delhi Chief Minister at 6, Flagstaff Road, bedecked with flowers and balloons a day before wears a deserted look. At the party office too, the mood is unmistakably somber.

“The party was prepared for a nationwide celebration. Crackers, rallies, sweets, dhol and roadshows were planned. We were asked to prepare for a celebration like never before. We had never imagined such a dismal show,” says a party member.

Read: Has the AAP lost its mojo?

Agreeing it is time for introspection, insiders say that the AAP had sensed the defeat a week before the elections.

“The numbers started to change by 9:30 am. We knew that the party is not going to win now. But at least we didn’t feature third as the Akalis,” said a party leader. “Once the result was clear, Arvind asked everyone to leave the room and leave him alone. All the senior leaders of the party present there were asked to leave. That’s a practice whenever he is angry,” the leader added. “The party is in a state of shock.”

All is not well between the party’s Punjab-unit too. Kejriwal and Durgesh Pathak, party’s organisation-building head for Punjab, have not been talking over a week.

“Pathak was given the task of working on Punjab two years ago. But Pathak misled him about the ground reality of the state, even about the vote prediction. Kejriwal has not been talking to him for a week now,” said a leader. Moreover, the party workers in Punjab are highly disgruntled with the party’s performance.

A party leader said: “The party conducted a good election campaign, but failed to work on the ground. In fact, they did not even have the voter list of each constituency till about three days before the polling day, a practice that is done almost a month ago.”

Comments

Other News

Careless whispers and the impossible trinity

Time can never mend, the careless whispers of … As the RBI marches ahead, for the upcoming monetary policy meeting this June, whispers from the corridors echo around several policy options to defend the rupee – by deploying forex reserves, raising in

Bullet Train Project: Third mountain tunnel breakthrough achieved

A major engineering milestone has been achieved in the Mumbai–Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project with the successful breakthrough of the third mountain tunnel (MT-07) at Ambesari village in Dahanu Taluka of Palghar district, Maharashtra. With this achievement, three mountain

Supreme Court gets five new judges

Five new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court of India on Monday. "Vide Notifications of even number dated 01.06.2026, in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the Hon’ble President of India is pleased to appoint (i) Shri

Astonishing breadth and depth of ancient Indian knowledge systems

The Greatest Books of Ancient India: Incredible Ideas about Science, Music, Maths, Art and More By Dr. Pradeep Chakravarthy and Dr. R. Thiagarajan Hachette India, 208 pages, Rs 399

Strong El Nino threat over India`s monsoon, food & water security

India is heading into the southwest monsoon season this year under the shadow of a rapidly strengthening El Nino, with meteorologists warning that the climate phenomenon could significantly disrupt rainfall patterns, intensify heat stress and place additional pressure on the country’s agriculture-d

How corporates can nudge real change

The Business Of Business Is (Not) Just Business: How Behavioural Tools Can Drive Real Change Edited by Sutapa Banerjee, with Foreword by Nadir Godrej HarperCollins, 336 pages, Rs 699