NEW DELHI (TIP): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been humble pie.

Kejriwal’s spree of apologies has generated mixed reactions, with some amused, some piqued and others downright infuriated.

The AAP chief, with 33 defamation cases against him in 22 states, has crossed three cases off his list by saying sorry to the complainants.

Kejriwal has tendered a series of apologies, starting with Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, followed by Union minister Nitin Gadkari, and subsequently Congress leader Kapil Sibal and his son.

Deputy chief minister of Delhi and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia justified the apologies. “We are here to work for public. If someone is hurt by our remarks, we will apologise. We do not have time for courts. We do not want to indulge in battle of ego,” he said.

In contrast to the moral high ground by AAP leaders in Delhi, cracks appeared in party’s Punjab unit after Kejriwal apologised to Majithia with AAP’s Punjab chief Bhagwant Mann quitting from the post in protest. Lok Insaaf Party, AAP’s alliance partner in Punjab, said it will snap ties with Kejriwal-led party.

Kejriwal’s apologies have provided readymade ammunition to the Opposition to target AAP. Congress, taking a dig at the Delhi Chief Minister, said that Kejriwal should change his name to “Arvind Sorry Kejriwal”. Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari slammed Kejriwal for being a “regular and habitual offender”. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh dismissed Kejriwal’s apology as an “antic”.

Kejriwal’s apology episode is the latest in a series of recent events that have earned the party criticism from several corners and could hurt its public image in the long run.

However, things will be difficult for Kejriwal in the case involving Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

According to the sources, Kejriwal sent one of his newly inducted Rajya Sabha MPs as an emissary to Jaitley to discuss the possibility of an apology.

“The finance minister hasn’t agreed with the apology proposal,” a source said.

It’s also learnt that Jaitley wanted to know whether Kejriwal could ensure apologies from other AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Raghav Chadha and Deepak Bajpai against whom defamation case has been filed.

The finance minister had filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Kejriwal and five other AAP leaders. A civil defamation case was filed in Delhi High Court and a criminal defamation suit was filed in lower court in Delhi.Besides, a separate defamation case was filed against Kejriwal after certain remarks were made by his lawyer Ram Jethmalani during the trial. Kejriwal wanted to take the apology route with Jaitley as the next hearings in the high court and lower court are respectively on 3 April and 8 April.