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'We haven’t lost, we just haven’t made the gains we expected'

Falling far below its expectations, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh has still to zero in on the reasons for its disappointing show in the state. Former chief minister and could-be-would-be BJP CM if the party were to form the government, Sunderlal Patwa still does not believe his party has lost the election.

Fresh from his victory in Bhojpur, in a quiet room at his home in the 74 Bungalows area of Bhopal, Patwa spoke to Archana Masih early on Sunday morning.

What direction will the Madhya Pradesh BJP take now? What options does the party have?

One option that we have always had is to continue working and move ahead.

Now that you have lost, how will you achieve this? Are you going to have any meetings to zero in on the reasons for your defeat?

You see, it’s like this, we don’t have any new strategy. We are not a new party. It’s a continuous process. If you see, in spite of our defeat, we have still moved forward from our score last time. In the last assembly election, we had 117 seats, now we are reaching 124.

Meanwhile, the Congress has lost some ground. They were 172 the last time, now they seem to be stuck at 164, but this is no reason for us to be satisfied. We had wanted to form the government here, wanted to gain a majority, but because of certain reasons, we couldn’t progress as we had expected. Do inch badhe, do gaz nahin badh paye. Phir badhenge, phir karenge. (If not the desired progress, we made some progress. But we’ll get a chance to make gains again).

So where does the BJP go from here in MP?

Ahead. Further.

But contrary to the exit poll…

Yes, all the predictions didn’t prove correct.

Has this been a shock for you and the BJP?

It is not a shock, but a reason to be worried. We have to sit and think about it. After being in politics for so long I am shock proof. I have seen many such shocks since our Jan Sangh days (laughs).

As a very senior leader leader of the party, why do you think the BJP did badly?

We have to find the reasons. There is no clear reason. It is very difficult to point the main reason for our defeat. Different circumstances will apply to different regions, constituencies – or there could even be a common reason responsible for our performance.

We will find out about this by going to different districts, by analysing what went wrong, our areas of deficiency or if any badmashi (trick) has been done. We have to find this out. At this point we cannot give a clear reason for our defeat. It is not yet visible.

What about the price factor ? Had the central government been able to control it, don’t you think the results would be different for you?

No, we tried to keep this political battle confined to Bhopal, but they (the Congress) tried to turn the focus on Delhi. The performance in Delhi was an issue for them, so that they could divert the attention of the people from the performance of the Congress government in the state. They may have achieved some success because of this.

How much is the BJP itself responsible for the unexpected result in MP?

I said there is no clear reason.

Were the results reflective of the failings within the party?

See, deficiencies and failings can be found anywhere. Only God above does not have any failings. Nobody else is perfect. It is said a human being has many flaws. Everybody makes mistakes. We have made some. Even the Congress has made mistakes in the past.

Do you think the selection of candidates has something to do with the poor show?

Everyone sees the best qualities of a winner, and only sees the flaws of a loser. Jeet ke hazaar baap hote hai, haar ka koi maibaap nahin hota (There are many willing to take credit for victory, but no one takes responsibility for defeat). What has happened has happened. There is no point expressing grief about it. We have to try and move ahead from here.

Would you say the selection of BJP candidates was incorrect?

No, we did our possible best. The result is before us and we’ll learn our lessons from it. It is not correct to start blaming anyone for our defeat. I don’t think this is right. We have to face both victory and defeat collectively. We still haven’t lost, we just haven’t made the gains we expected.

It would have been a loss if we were reduced from 117 to 50 or 70. We haven’t lost. We have taken two steps instead of the twenty expected.

Don’t you think price rise has had a negative effect on the BJP in the state?

We have to find this out. You cannot say anything.

Would you say this mandate has been a mandate for Digvijay Singh?

No. No.

Why?

It is not a mandate for him. Even today it is a mandate against the Congress. Their seats have decreased. They are eight less than their earlier tally. I think they will reach 164 – not more. Whereas we have made an increase of seven seats. So I don’t agree that we have lost. Yes, we have fallen below our expectations.

Have you met to deliberate upon your performance?

That we do everyday. What’s new in that? We have always toured different districts, we will continue to do this. We will find our weaknesses and move ahead.

But you have not decided on any such meeting officially?

What do you have to decide about? It is already decided. Touring districts, holding meetings, interacting with people is nothing new for us. This is not a new process. We have been doing this for years.

Do you think the Congress had a better campaign strategy?

I said Jeet ke hazaar baap hote hai, haar ka koi maibaap nahin hota. Even though they have not won – they (the Congress) have somehow managed to save their skin. They have not won, yet people see their good qualities and we, just because we have not progressed as expected, people are only seeing our flaws.

Perhaps Digvijay Singh’s victory is being rated higher because the BJP was slated to form the government before the election?

Yes, we had a better chance, but that does not mean we have completely lost.

But you couldn’t do better than the Congress?

We weren’t better even last time.

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Assembly Election '98

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