The Hindu : National : BJP not demoralised, says Mahajan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 16, 2004

National

National

BJP not demoralised, says Mahajan

NEW DELHI, MAY 15. The Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, has said the party felt unhappy with the people's verdict but was not demoralised and hoped that the new government would complete its five-year term.

"I want the government to last five years because I believe elections before five years are not good for the country," he said in the Seedhi Baat programme on Aaj Tak.

Mr. Mahajan said he was unhappy that a `foreigner' would be the Prime Minister of the country. This was not a referendum for a `foreigner' to take over as Prime Minister. "It is a fractured verdict and not a referendum for Sonia to become the Prime Minister."

Nowhere during the elections had the Congress projected Ms. Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate because it knew that the electorate would not accept her. He criticised the `caste-based politics' of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. "The BJP will never resort to caste-based politics," he said, when asked about the cause of the party's poor showing in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

About Karnataka, he said it was also a verdict against the Congress and hence it should not stake claim to form the government in the State. Either the BJP or the JD (Secular) should stake claim to form the government, he said. To another question, he admitted that the BJP leaders had not been able to lead the organisation properly, resulting in the weakening of the party.

UNI

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