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'We thought price rise would affect the cities, not the villages'

Kailash Joshi is the Bharatiya Janata Party's seniormost leader in Madhya Pradesh. A veteran who has seen no less than eight elections, Joshi was a jolted man after his first-ever defeat in the Bagli assembly constituency.

Over a swift hair cut at his Bhopal home on Sunday morning, the former chief minister spoke to Archana Masih.

Where does the BJP go from here?

The results are not what we expected. We were expecting 175 to 180 seats. Nobody expected this.

Why did this happen?

It is a bit early to state that. We have to study and find the reasons. I cannot see one reason. The performance of this government was not good. We have been fighting for the people for five years. We had started preparing for the election very early. The reasons for defeat have to be analysed after a detailed study.

What do you think was the most important reason for this defeat?

People say it was the price rise. We thought this would affect the cities, not the villages. This was not a cause in the villages.

Prices rose in the village too.

Yes, but villagers know about onions and potatoes. They know prices rise because of a bad harvest, bad weather, too much rain. Even now the potato fields are flooded. They have had to sow again. It did not affect the villages so much.

Had the central government acted earlier to control prices, would that have made a difference?

Yes, it would have made a little difference.

Was the selection of candidates a reason for the disappointing result?

A few mistakes yes, but not the entire selection. It was a common decision. We all sat together on the selection committee. There were arguments about a few seats, but the final decision was unanimous .We decided together.

Under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, was the Congress campaign strategy better than the BJP's strategy in Madhya Pradesh?

It wasn’t like that. Soniaji went to very few places. She was not the reason for our defeat. It was ‘samay’(our bad time).

Sushma Swaraj has said the party lost in Delhi because of the BJP itself -- does that apply to Madhya Pradesh?

No. We had few rebels here. There was no sabotage anywhere.

You are the seniormost leader in the state. Have you decided to call meetings and deliberate…

Of course, we will do it. Let the final results come in. Then we will go out and find the reasons. And then we will rectify the faults. We have not been routed. One per cent difference only.

Two per cent. BJP 39: Congress 41.

No, it is one per cent. I am coming from Doordarshan. They said 40 and 39. It is a small margin. It will not affect us badly.

The BJP was expected to lose Delhi and Rajasthan, but definitely win Madhya Pradesh. Did the result shock you?

It is sad, but not a big defeat. We will rectify the faults. The Congress will form the government. We will continue to fight for the people.

Would you say this was a mandate for Digvijay Singh?

No! His house was divided. Madhavrao Scindia, Arjun Singh, Subhash Yadav did not work together... Many of their people have also lost. Even some of their ministers have lost. They were contesting as ministers.

You talk about a divided house, even the BJP is afflicted by the same problem. People say there has been a lot of factionalism in the BJP this time.

It is not like that. We have faced the election together. Maybe there were problems at the lower level. Everybody worked together. It’s not like that.

What effect will this defeat have on the Vajpayee government ?

I don’t think it will have any effect because there is a coalition government at the Centre – these states will not have an adverse effect there. The biggest question before the nation is whether we can have another Lok Sabha election. Nobody wants that. Even the Congress does not want that.

They are not ready. Even after winning the assembly election, the Congress has said they will not destabilise the Centre.They are ready only if the government falls by itself.

You had promised a separate Chhattisgarh state. You were very confident about Chhattisgarh. Why did the BJP do so badly in the region?

We will have to study the problem. I cannot comment on that now. We will sit down in the evening and contact them there. I cannot see any reason there or here. We had said we will form the government in both places (Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh). Till the polling it looked like we were winning... How the voters changed. Or what causes. That has to be analysed.

Joshiji, how long will it take you to find the reasons for this unexpected performance?

Very fast. In a week or fortnight. Drink your tea, it is getting cold. One thing I have noticed is that in places where we have won consistently -- we have lost there this time. It was as if the people in those constituencies wanted a change.

So this has been a vote for change.

Nobody is disappointed with me. No personal enmity. The Congress criticised our party, not us. And till now everybody was saying that the BJP will win.

Nobody expected your defeat. You are a veteran leader of the BJP. There is some substance in your reasoning.

Yes, I have held that seat for 8 terms. Vikram Verma has held his Dhar seat for 5 terms. So they wanted to give somebody new a chance.

Assembly Election '98

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