Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and former chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has issued the following statement to the media on May 21

“During the Lok Sabha elections, we went to many parts of the country and met people from all walks of life. We were told that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) consists of good and courageous people, who can take on rich and powerful to expose their misdeeds.

During the campaign, however, we also realised that a large number of people were quite angry with us for having quit the Delhi government. We were asked why did we leave the government ? We were also asked why did we go away ? This also gave our political opponents an opportunity to spread misinformation about us.

After considering all aspects, I apologise to the people, who wanted the AAP government in Delhi to continue. Our party wanted to know the reasons for the anger of the people against us and we were told that during 49 days in office, the AAP government had reduced the power tariffs by half, provided free water and corruption in public dealing had disappeared.

The people wanted this relief to continue, though we had resigned on moral grounds after our government’s proposal to introduce the Janlokpal bill in the Delhi assembly was defeated, but our decision was misinterpreted. Therefore, we apologise to the people for this judgmental error.

Following our resignation on February 14, President’s rule was imposed in Delhi and the then Congress-led UPA’s central government reversed our key decisions of slashing electricity tariffs by 50% and provision of free water by discontinuing these benefits in the vote on account passed in parliament with the BJP’s support.

Also, following the exit of our government, the practice of harassing poor people by the authorities started again. Street vendors, autorickshaw drivers and small traders were forced to resume paying bribes by concerned authorities. They were taunted by calling my name and if I could save them.

All these developments created an erroneous impression through a concerted campaign by our opponents that we have deserted the people of Delhi.

After the declaration of Lok Sabha election results, I have gone to many areas in the national capital and people have told me that we have already committed one mistake and it should not be repeated. I have also been told that in case we get a chance we should form the government at the earliest and continue the relief we had initiated for the people.

I have been told that in case the AAP commits another mistake of not taking up the responsibility of forming a government this time, the people will not spare us. Keeping all these factors in mind, we had decided to go back to the people and seek their opinion. We did not want to repeat the mistake that we had made by resigning without seeking the opinion of the people.

I had written a letter to the hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Delhi yesterday (May 20), requesting him to put on hold the decision to dissolve the Delhi assembly for a week, in case he was considering to do so, since we want to seek the opinion of the people on whether they want a government in Delhi or will they prefer fresh elections.

However, given the way political developments have been taking shape, particularly the recent developments, it has now become clear that the possibility of providing a fresh government to the people of Delhi appear to be negligible. Therefore, nothing will emerge from conducting any referendum on this issue and given the existing political scenario, we do not feel the need of holding any such exercise now.

In the meeting our legislature party held today, we have unanimously decided to seek a fresh election for the state assembly, the recommendation for which we had made in the last meeting of our cabinet on February 14, but the UPA government had not accepted our recommendation to dissolve the state assembly.

Over the next 7-10 days, we will hold meetings all over Delhi and will take our apology to the people and begin preparations for seeking a fresh mandate to resume the relief of cheap electricity and free water to the people, apart from providing a corruption-free administration.” (ENDS)