Nagpur: After BJP’s flop show in Bihar polls, in a bid to defend Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday claimed that the arithmetic addition of three parties joining hands responsible for the party’s defeat in Bihar.
“We lost in Bihar because the three parties came together and the resulting arithmetic addition. We need to increase our votes by 5-7%. The BJP has seen many wins and losses. This is not a party of kinfolk. This party never became a party of an individual,” he said.
“When we lost in four states back-to-back even then we did not hold any individual responsible. Therefore, holding Modi ji and Amit Shah responsible for this (Bihar’s debacle) will not be right. It is party’s defeat. Wins and losses are not permanent,” he added.
Gadkari further said that he has suggested the BJP chief to take stringent action against leaders who make unwarranted controversial statements.
Lal Krishna Advani and three other BJP veterans have issued a strong statement on the party’s defeat in Bihar, demanding a thorough review and criticising its stand on the debacle.
“The results of Bihar election show that no lesson has been learnt from fiasco in Delhi,” said the statement signed by Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha.
The BJP top brass, however, issued a counter statement in response, saying they have been ‘fortunate’ to be led by Advani for decades and welcomed any guidance and suggestion by the senior leaders.
(With ANI inputs)