Accept people's verdict humbly, Arvind Kejriwal tells party

New Delhi: Motivating disheartened AAP workers after the party’s crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday asked them to humbly accept people’s verdict and concentrate on the Assembly elections slated for next year.

Mr Kejriwal, addressing party workers in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh, said anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare told him that “when one comes into politics or public life, one should have the ability to endure humiliation”.

“We have to bear humiliation at times and I am proud of my workers for humbly accepting that insult,” he said. “Now, you go to the people of Delhi and tell them that the big election has ended and small elections are going to come, and in these elections, cast your vote on the basis of ‘kaam’ (work) and not ‘naam’ (name),” he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lost on all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital by huge margins of votes. Kejriwal said the party has not deviated from its principles of honesty and hard work which is its biggest strength.

“All of us are as honest as we were on November 26, 2013 when the party was formed. I am proud to say we have not deviated from the values of the party. Several CBI raids were conducted against me, Manish Sisodia (deputy chief minister) and Satyendra Jain (health minister), but corruption of not even a single paisa was found. You all should be proud of it,” he said.

The chief minister asserted that all the work done by the AAP in Delhi has been due to the support of party workers and they should take pride in it. “I can say with confidence that we got 54 per cent votes in the last assembly elections and this time we would win by more votes,” he said.

Mr Sisodia also asked AAP workers to start preparing for the 2020 Assembly elections.

Keep yourself updated on Lok Sabha Elections 2019 with our round-the-clock coverage -- breaking news, updates, analyses etc all. Happy reading.