A month later, Vajpayee admits: Gujarat a reason

A month after the BJP-led NDA was voted out of power, former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said the Gujarat riots were one of th...

A month after the BJP-led NDA was voted out of power, former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said the Gujarat riots were one of the reasons for the BJP’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. It is the first time that a senior BJP leader has linked the riots to the election disaster.

‘‘It is very difficult to say what are all the reasons for the defeat in the elections… But one impact of the violence was we lost the elections,’’ he told reporters on his arrival here.

‘‘The BJP’s handling of Gujarat was not wrong. Only that it was a sensitive and communal matter which the opposition took advantage of,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t blame them. This is politics and such things happen here.’’ Vajpayee who reached his holiday home in Prini this afternoon added the Gujarat khooni kand (bloody episode) should never be repeated.

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When asked why he chose not to be the Leader of Opposition, Vajpayee said: ‘‘I was the leader earlier, now it’s Advaniji. We share and work together.’’

On this trip to Manali as a former PM, Vajpayee said he was very relaxed. ‘‘Earlier there were a lot of responsibilities. The important responsibility now I have is to meet people,’’ he said. Vajpayee said that he was happy to be in Manali once again. ‘‘I will never forget the people of Manali,’’ he said. His summer sojourn gives Vajpayee all he needs to return to his passion, his poetry. ‘‘If I get to write, I’ll write,’’ he said.