Battle In BJP: Advani, Joshi Attack PM Modi For Bihar Debacle, Party Recalls ‘Success’ Under New Guard | News World India

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans demanded that accountability be fixed for the Bihar poll debacle, party top brass issued a counter statement recalling successes under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Party also tried to appease the furious party veterans, saying they have been ‘fortunate’ to be led by LK Advani for decades and ‘welcome’ any guidance and suggestion by the senior leaders.

The statement was jointly issued by Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu and Nitin Gadkari who have been former BJP presidents.

The statement read: “Vajpayee and Advani had set a healthy precedent of party collectively taking up responsibility for victories and defeats.”

However, it was quick to remind the veterans that the BJP won the Lok Sabha elections last year under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thereafter, the party had success in the Assembly Elections of Jharkhand, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andamans, Kerala and Assam.

The statement came shortly after LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar raised a banner of revolt against the leadership of Modi and party president Amit Shah in the wake of Bihar poll debacle.

ALSO READ: Team Advani Demands Accountability From Modi, Amit Shah For Bihar Defeat

Stating that the BJP Parliamentary Board had a detailed discussion on the results of Bihar Assembly polls, the statement said the party will discuss this matter on various other forums including senior leaders and attempt to overcome the shortcomings that led to the adverse verdict in the state.

The statement also said that obviously, all party members are concerned with the results of Bihar elections.

Earlier, the party veterans have blasted current leadership for the Bihar loss. “Bihar results show that no lesson has been learnt from the fiasco in Delhi. The principal reason for Bihar defeat is the way the party has been emasculated in the last year. The review should cover the way the party is forced to kow-tow to a handful and how its consensusal character has been destroyed,” the party veterans were quoted as saying by PTI.

“The review must not be done by the very persons who have managed and have been responsible for the campaign in Bihar. To say that everyone is responsible for the defeat is to ensure that no one is held responsible,” they further added.

Former union minister and a senior leader from Bihar C P Thakur also attacked the leadership saying, he was pained to see that the relationship between the central leadership and the grassroot workers now has become one of master and the servant.

He was also severely critical of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remark on reservation that “cost the entire election”.

“BJP was winning the election before this remark was made. But once the remark was made and the way Lalu and Nitish made it an issue, The party became helpless,” Thakur said.

Earlier in the day, Bhola Singh, two time MP from Begusarai in Bihar, had brought Modi and Shah in the line of fire, saying they injected communalism in the campaign.