File photo: Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad
Accepting its "massive defeat" in the Delhi assembly polls with all humility, the BJP said on Tuesday that it is a "big setback" for the party and admitted that it failed to gauge the mood of the people.
Stating that it will honestly introspect the reasons for the defeat, the BJP also said that the loss in Delhi is a "collective failure" of the party and the defeat cannot be thrown on any single individual. This was seen as an attempt to deflect any blame on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It also hoped that the party will resurrect after seriously looking into the reasons.
The party congratulated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on his party's landslide victory and hoped that he will fulfil the promises he had made ahead of polls. The BJP also assured the Centre's support to his government in Delhi without any political discrimination.
"We have lost badly. We accept our massive defeat with all humility. We will seriously look into the reasons. We probably feel we have faulted in gauging the mood of the people of Delhi. We will seriously think about it and take a comprehensive review of the reasons that led to this defeat," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He said that the Narendra Modi government treats everyone equally, without any political discrimination, and the same principle will apply in Delhi.
"We will work as a constructive opposition and will oppose where ever required," he said.
Mr Prasad said that with Congress decimated to zero in these polls, it was a matter of concern for the oldest party of the country. "I leave it to the Congress to introspect. It is their internal matter," he said.
Party general secretary P Murlidhar Rao said, "BJP's defeat in Delhi elections is a collective failure of our party. It cannot be thrown on any single individual. We all own the loss. Election results for Delhi state is a setback for BJP."
BJP Spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "It is a big setback for us. We will assess the reasons of the defeat. We accept the verdict of the people and hope Kejriwal fulfils his promises made to the people. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, the Centre will extend all its help to the Delhi government."
BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said that the party accepts the verdict of people and hoped Mr Kejriwal will provide the people of Delhi with clean water, 24-hour power, and security to women, besides development of jhuggis (slums).