Arvind Kejriwal admits making mistakes; BJP's Manoj Tiwari calls it "new drama"

New Delhi: Grappling with a crushing defeat in the civic polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday admitted that his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made "mistakes" and that there was a need to "introspect" and "course correct".

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi president Manoj Tiwari described it as "a new drama."

"Kejriwal had done it earlier also," Tiwari said giving the example of his stepping down after 49 days of his first-time government from December 2013 to February 2014.

He said people will understand his tendency of "changing colours like a chameleon".

Till now, the AAP leader had been blaming Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the party's rout in polls.

However, this morning, Kejriwal said that based on his interactions with "volunteers and voters", it was obvious that the party made mistakes and there was a need to go back to the "drawing board".

"Need is action and not excuses," he said, amid growing clamour in the party to desist from raking up the issue of EVMs being "tampered with" to favour the BJP, an allegation rubbished by the Election Commission.

The remarks were part of a brief written statement, shared by the AAP chief on Twitter, three days after the party was defeated by the BJP in the Delhi municipal polls.

"In the last two days, I spoke to many volunteers and voters. The reality is obvious. Yes, we made mistakes but we will introspect and course correct. Time to go back to drawing board," he said.

He said it would be "silly" for the party to not evolve.

(With Agency inputs)