IANS/Varanasi

 

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal yesterday said he committed a "mistake" of not consulting people before resigning as chief minister of Delhi.

"I think we made a mistake on (the issue of) resignation. Resignation in principle was (however) right," Kejriwal told NDTV.

Kejriwal and his cabinet quit on February 14 after failing to pass the Jan Lokpal bill in the Delhi assembly because of opposition from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"We should have consulted people before resigning the way we did before forming the government, which we didn't do," he said. "It was a communication problem."

Kejriwal, who was chief minister for 49 days, agreed that the decision did not go down well with the people.

"People could not absorb it. I should have interacted with the people the way I did in (the) 10 days during campaigning in Delhi... I should have gone among (the) people."

But he insisted that he made a "sacrifice" by resigning as chief minister.

"I could have also stuck to the chief minister's post as others do but my conscience did not allow (me to do so).

"We thought we had made a big sacrifice, and the public would praise us. But the public couldn't understand the logic."

Kejriwal led the AAP to a spectacular showing in the Delhi assembly election in December, winning 28 of the 70 seats. The BJP came on top with 31 seats and the Congress was routed with just eight seats.

The AAP went on to form a minority government with Congress backing after conducting a referendum among voters on whether or not it should take Congress support to take power.

But when he decided to quit, Kejriwal took a unilateral decision.

Kejriwal is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi against the BJP’s Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the party will get an "absolute majority" in the election and Modi will be the next prime minister.

"The BJP is heading for an absolute majority and Modi will be the next PM," Naidu told a press conference in Patna.

Naidu said Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which together send 120 MPs, will account for the lion's share of the BJP strength in parliament.

"The BJP is set to perform well, and more than expected in Bihar and UP."

He added: "We don't believe in forward and backward castes but it is true that Modi will be first PM from a backward class."

Naidu said Modi stood for "3 Ds - decision-taker, dynamic and development-oriented."

He said Modi will end the dynastic rule of the Gandhi family.

In other developments, Telugu Desam Party founder late N T Rama Rao's actor son N Balakrishna yesterday filed nomination for Andhra Pradesh assembly but his elder son N Harikrishna criticised party chief and brother-in-law N Chandrababu Naidu for denying him a ticket.

Balakrishna, a popular Telugu actor, entered the electoral politics by filing nomination for Hindupur assembly seat in Anantapur district. He told reporters that while he has not come into politics for any position, he would not say no if he gets a chance to become the chief minister.

The 53-year-old said he would develop Hindupur as the number one constituency in Andhra Pradesh. He also promised to rename the district after his father, a legendary actor who represented the constituency thrice. TDP never lost an election in Hindupur since the party was founded by NTR in 1982.

Meanwhile, the differences in the NTR's family came to the fore again as Balakrishna snubbed his nephew and young actor Junior NTR, saying there is no need for the party to request anybody to campaign.

"All members of the Nandamuri family should work for the party's victory and there is no need to make a request to anyone," he said when asked if the party would rope in Junior NTR for the campaign.

Balakrishna's elder brother and Junior NTR's father Harkrishna came down heavily on Naidu for not giving him a ticket to contest the assembly election.

Harikrishna, who was elected from Hindupur in 1995 in a by-election caused by his father's death, said he was an aspirant for party ticket from Hindupur and had made this demand during the TDP’s politburo meeting.

Harikrishna said he was hoping that the party would at least field him from one of the assembly constituencies in Krishna district. He said some people in the party were making a false propaganda that he did not seek the ticket.