Pledge that you'll never betray, leave this pure party: Kejriwal to AAP councillors

New Delhi: Moving away from the usual call of faulty EVMs, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said, AAP lost the MCD polls because of the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh elections and the "growing stature" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal called for an urgent meet at his residence in New Delhi following the monumental defeat of the party at MCD polls. At the meeting, he asked the AAP members to take an oath, promising never to leave the party, according to a report in The Indian Express.

“I keep my god as my witness and pledge that I will never ditch this pure party or betray the movement. With God as my witness, I pledge never to ditch this pure party or betray the (anti-corruption) movement.”

Post MCD elections in Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been hit by a number of resignations from some of the parties top leadership.

Taking responsibility for the defeat, lawmaker Alka Lamba told NDTV, "I take personal responsibility for the party's defeat in all three wards in my constituency and offer to resign from all party posts and as a lawmaker."

Also read: Punjab poll debacle: AAP leaders hit out at party high command

Five months after joining the AAP, Poonam Jha Azad, wife of suspended BJP MP Kirti Jha Azad, switched over to the Congress on April 11. Azad, who took on former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from Gole Market in the 2003 Assembly polls, termed her joining the Congress as “homecoming.”

On Thursday, AAP's Punjab party in-charge Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to announce organisation-building head Durgesh Pathak and his own resignation.

AAP MP Bhagwat Mann slammed the party leadership, and said, not naming a chief ministerial candidate cost the party heavily during the Punjab elections.

Contrary to AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal's stand, Mann said there was no use in finding fault with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

He also slammed the party leadership for "behaving like a 'mohalla' (local) cricket team," and said AAP had committed a "historic blunder" in Punjab with regard to the overall electoral strategy.

The Bharatiya Janata Party swept Delhi’s civic polls on Wednesday, bagging an unprecedented 181 of the 270 municipal wards. With AAP managing to win just 48 seats, and Congress trailing at the third position with 30 seats, the BJP’s victory margin is the highest ever in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.