File photo of Kumar Vishwas
said today that his Aam Aadmi Party or AAP was guilty of some "political immaturity" but added, "Every good organization must accept its mistakes in public - we're honest but novices and we made mistake, so we must learn some more."
Mr Vishwas was a combatant in one of the alpha-contests of this election - he took on Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi and the BJP's
Smriti Irani in Amethi, known for its loyalty to the Congress and its First Family.
Exit polls show AAP getting between 0 and seven of the 543 parliamentary seats. (
India Votes 2014: Full Coverage)
Mr Vishwas, a 44-year-old Hindi poet, repeated what AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal ceded early in the election campaign to NDTV - that the decision to quit running Delhi 49 days after the party formed a minority government
was a grave political misstep. "The way we'd come to power, we should have taken our time relinquishing it - the message should have gone out to the people over 7-8 days that the BJP and Congress are hand in glove and are blocking the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill," Mr Vishwas said.
In December, in the first election it ever contested, AAP delivered a go-getter result, one that prevented the BJP from forming the government.
The party's stated commitment of deracinating corruption forced the political behemoths of the BJP and the Congress to push anti-graft measures to the forefront of their agendas.
"We have created an atmosphere against the corruption of the Congress and the silence of the Opposition. We demonstrated, held rallies and there was an awakening in the country. You could see that in the voter turnout," Mr Vishwas said. (
Will not leave Amethi, says Kumar Vishwas)