After almost a month of back-to-back road shows, party meetings and press conferences for the municipal polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders finally breathed a sigh of relief on Monday.
But for the man behind the show, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the day was filled with meetings analysing the party’s performance in Sunday’s elections.
“Arvind ji had a meeting with the senior party leaders after the voting closed last evening. On Monday morning too, there was a meeting with the party observers,” said an AAP leader.
Legislators meet CM
Early Monday morning, a crowd of party legislators gathered at the Chief Minister’s residence, bungalow number-six Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines.
According to sources, the mood was tense as party leaders, including Mr. Kejriwal, are not confident of repeating their 2015 Assembly election performance. Mr. Kejriwal called for a meeting with the party observers to discuss the voting trend in their respective areas.
Busy day in office
Close associates to the leader said he has been anxious over the negative portrayal of the party by a section of media and the exit polls, which have predicted a poor performance by the AAP.
After the meeting, around afternoon, Mr. Kejriwal left for his office in the Delhi Secretariat. “Arvind ji is a positive person and that is what he tells other leaders to be. No one thought a new party like ours could create a record by coming to power with such high mandate in 2015. We can pull this off too,” a party source said.
Unlike most leaders from other parties who chose to relax and spend time with family and party workers a day after the elections, Mr. Kejriwal had a busy day clearing files, giving interviews, and attending to public grievances.
Concerned about EVMs
Sources also said that Mr. Kejriwal was concerned about the complaints of faulty EVMs and the fact that the state election commission (SEC) was “choosing not to take any action”. “We will wait for the results on Wednesday. What ever the public’s decision, we will accept it with grace,” Mr. Kejriwal said on Monday.
