Kejriwal accepts MCD defeat, congratulates BJP, doesn’t mention EVMs

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal broke his silence on twitter by congratulating the BJP and saying he was looking forward to working with the MCD. He did not mention EVMs though his colleagues had blamed voting machines for the defeat earlier in the day

Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal struck a conciliatory note on Wednesday after his party was suffered heavy defeat in the Delhi’s civic polls. The party’s defeat had started looking imminent after BJP took lead early in the day. Thereafter, party leaders Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai met at Kejriwal’s residence in Civil Lines to decide further course of action.

Delhi chief minister Kejriwal had earlier on Monday stuck a defiant note after exit polls predicted a BJP sweep in the civic polls. (PTI FILE)

Delhi chief minister Kejriwal had earlier on Monday stayed defiant after exit polls predicted a BJP sweep in the civic polls. He had then said that he would launch a ‘movement’ if the exit poll results came out to be true. However, on Wednesday Kejriwal refrained from mentioning EVMs. He had earlier alleged that the EVMs had been tampered with.

Even on Wednesday afternoon, two of Kejriwal’s close aides blamed EVMs for the party’s defeat. One of them, labour minister Gopal Rai said that the BJP had won because of an “EVM wave”, not because of a ‘Modi wave’.