Down but not out: BJP on Kairana, Noorpur bypoll drubbings

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday accepted that the recent bypoll drubbings in Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana and Noorpur affected the party but hoped that it will bounce back.

UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said that the recent electoral losses, which gave the Opposition a reason to smile, will not have a large bearing on 2019 general elections and the saffron party was optimistic about the outcome of next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

“We are down but not out,” he said, when asked to comment on three back to back defeats suffered by the party in the Lok Sabha bye-elections this year in the state.

Earlier in March 2018, the BJP had to face humiliation at the hands of the Samajwadi Party which registered a stunning victory in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls.

Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also echoed similar remarks and said that it would be wrong if he says the results of recent bypolls had not impacted the saffron party.

“If I say that the by-election defeat has not impacted us, it would be wrong,” Naqvi said, adding that the losses would help the BJP to deal with the “unholy and anarchist” alliances in a more effective way.

“When you are on the battlefield and you understand the tactics and strategy of your opponents, it is easier to contest. We have the experience (of bypolls) now and it will make it easier for us (to strategise and win),” the Union minister was quoted as saying by IANS.

(With inputs from agencies.)