Blame it on anti-saffron trio: BJP on Maharashtra washout

NEW DELHI, April 11: The Congress entering into a strategic alliance with Samajwadi Party and the Republican Party of India (RPI) in Maharas...

NEW DELHI, April 11: The Congress entering into a strategic alliance with Samajwadi Party and the Republican Party of India (RPI) in Maharashtra was one of the causes for the setback suffered by BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the state in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.

In its report to the two-day national executive of BJP which began today, the Maharashtra state unit said besides the aforementioned strategic alliance, the anti-incumbency factor and lack of implementation of election promises were also the reasons for the alliance suffering the setback in the polls.

Talking to newspersons, party general secretary Venkaiah Naidu said the state unit admitted that social equations too played an important role in the defeat of the alliance as also the police firing in Ramabai Nagar Mumbai in which about 11 Dalits were killed.

Story continues below this ad

The state unit is drawing up an action plan which it proposes to launch by June in its efforts to regain the confidence of the people, he said. Besides Maharashtra, the other unitswhich gave reports on the party’s performance were Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The Kerala unit said the party was unable to open its account in the state because of sharp polarisation in the state between Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Congress which forced BJP to go it alone.

However, in the southern states, the BJP with its allies secured 50 out of 132 seats because of strategic alliances and good co-ordination between them besides the hard work of party cadres, Naidu said.

In Tamil Nadu, where it won three seats of the five it contested, Naidu said the state unit felt that it lost Nagercoil to TMC because Leftists supported TMC candidate.

Story continues below this ad

In Andhra Pradesh, the party won four seats while it was second in three seats and polled 20 per cent of the popular votes, he said adding that party president L K Advani made special mention of this performance.