 "Controversial remarks damaged BJP's prospects in Delhi: Naidu")
In an interview to Karan Thapar on Headlines Today, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu also spoke of the limitation of the BJP in a direct electoral contest and said the party needs to expand its base and work out a strategy to win even those elections, which are not three or four-cornered.
He refused to hold the party's chief ministerial candidate, Kiran Bedi, responsible for the debacle, saying there are "other factors" for this "embarrassing" defeat, which is a "big setback" to the party. The AAP hurricane demolished both the BJP and the Congress in the Delhi Assembly polls, which bagged 67 of 70 seats, leaving only three for the BJP while the Congress scored a duck.
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"Some of the statements made by our so-called colleagues also damaged us. They drove away entire minorities to that side. That is also a lesson to be learnt," he said, referring to remarks of leaders such as party member of Parliament Sakshi Maharaj and Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.
He said it was a "tactical mistake" to delay the elections in Delhi that cost the BJP dear but insisted that it was a "decision taken collectively". To a question on whether the controversy over 'ghar wapsi', conversion besides these controversial remarks antagonised some sections of Hindus, Naidu replied in affirmative.
"Definitely; Hindus always believed in peaceful co-existence. They have been living like this for ages. People were not happy with comments made by some of our colleagues. They did not go down well with people.... Somebody was talking of Hindu women having four children, the other six children. Somebody talked of putting idols in all places of worship. That was very wrong," he said.