BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya today claimed that his party knew in advance that it would lose the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll.
He, however, expressed confidence that the BJP will win the Gujarat assembly polls.
Vijayvargiya also revealed that former TMC leader Mukul Roy wants to join the BJP.
"We knew in advance that we are going to lose Gurdaspur bypoll. We have never claimed that we will win that election," he told reporters here.
Replying to a query on the Gurdaspur bypoll defeat, the BJP leader said, "Our party organisation is weak in Punjab. There is still discontent among the people (in Punjab) against the previous BJP and Akali Dal government ."
He said that the party had to bear the brunt of discontent at Gurdaspur.
The BJP lost its bastion Gurdaspur to Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar by a record margin of 1,93,219 votes. Late Bollywood star Vinod Khanna had won this seat in 1998, 1999, 1999, 2004 and 2014.
About the Gujarat assembly polls, Vijayvargiya expressed confidence that the BJP would win more than 150 seats out of 182 in that state, denying that the businessmen were unhappy with the Goods and Services Tax there.
To a query on Mukul Roy who has parted way with Trinamool Congress (TMC), the BJP general secretary said, "We met recently. He wants to join BJP. On my advice, he talked to the party unit of West Bengal, which will take a final call on him.
Describing Roy as a big leader from West Bengal, Vijayvargiya said that he was no 2 after Mamata Banerjee in TMC once. "The party he joins will get strengthened and result into a dip in Mamata's political strength," he said.
Taking potshots at Congress, the BJP leader said, "Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the post of Congress president would prove lucky for us. As soon as this happens, we will strengthen further and our influence in the country will expand.
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