Published 16:33 IST, February 14th 2020
Congress' 'sudden disappearance'' in polls led to BJP's defeat in Delhi: Javadekar
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Congress, which had got 26%Â votes in Lok Sabha elections, could win only 4 per cent votes in Delhi Assembly elections.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said the "sudden disappearance" of the Congress was responsible for the BJP's defeat in Delhi Assembly polls as it led to a direct fight between his party and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The BJP leader said the Congress, which had got 26% votes in Lok Sabha elections, could win only 4 per cent votes in Delhi elections. AAP won 62 seats, leaving 8 for BJP and none for the Congress party that ruled the state for 15 years since 1998.
"The (BJP's) defeat in Delhi elections was because of the sudden disappearance of the Congress. It is a different subject whether the Congress disappeared (on its own), people made it disappear or whether their votes got transferred (to AAP)," Javadekar said in a press conference."Because of Congress's disappearance, there was a direct fight between the BJP and the AAP. We had expected 42% votes for us and 48% for AAP, but our prediction failed by 3% each. We (BJP) got 39% votes, while the AAP received 51% votes," he said.
The minister said that ups and downs were bound to happen in elections. "But the BJP does an analysis of all these things," he added. When asked about his remarks, in which he had described Kejriwal as a "terrorist", he said he had never made this kind of statement. Earlier this month, Javadekar had said that Kejriwal had called himself an "anarchist" and there is not much of a "difference between an anarchist and a terrorist". "Ours is a party that keeps learning. We learn from our victories and defeats. So an analysis of the defeat will be done at the party level," Javadekar said.
Delhi Assembly Elections 2020
Building on its massive common-man appeal, the AAP government offered several freebies - free electricity, water, free wifi services, free metro and bus rides for women in the run-up to the elections. Meanwhile, Congress, which is reeling from a leadership vacuum since the demise of Sheila Dikshit is eyeing a comeback at the national capital. BJP, which has not held the Delhi Assembly since 1998 is eyeing to rule at Centre and the national capital - but has not named a CM pick. AAP which had launched a Kejriwal-centric campaign, aims at crossing the total with its motto "Abki Baar 67 paar" and keeps asking 'Kejriwal v/s Who?'
Updated 16:33 IST, February 14th 2020