RSS chief’s statement on reservation; Jaitley claims opposition unity cost them dear, says victory and losses are always collective .
New Delhi : As voices in the party and the alliance rose to a pitch against Mohan Bhagwat’s controversial quota remark, the BJP rushed to shield the RSS chief saying his remark was not the reason for the Bihar debacle. The party also ruled out any question of pinning down the responsibility on president Amit Shah claiming ‘‘victories and losses were always collective’’. Among the first party leaders to voice this apprehension was party veteran MP Hukm Deo Narayan Yadav. Always known to speak his mind, Yadav squarely blamed Bhagwat for the drubbing in Bihar. ‘‘The RSS statement was wrongly timed and because of this statement backward class thought their rights would be taken away and some upper class leader would be the Chief Minister. They aggressively voted against us because of this statement and Lalu and Nitish capitalized on this. We could not defend it much, he said.
Former Bihar CM and NDA ally Jitan Ram Manjhi fired the next salvo saying ‘‘Bhagwat’s statement on review of reservation for Dalits and OBCs harmed the NDA’s prospects as it was made one of the main issues by the Grand Alliance’’. However, senior party leader and finance minister Arun Jaitley denied that Bhagwat’s remark had anything to the with the party’s humiliating defeat in Bihar. Addressing the media after a one and a half hour parliamentary board meeting this evening, Jaitley said the leaders had taken stock of all the data. ‘‘In Lok Sabha we polled 38.8 percent vote share while RJD, JDU and Congress put together got about 45 percent. But since they fought separately we emerged as the clear winner. However, this time round they came together and thus their vote share amounted to about 41 percent while we got 34 percent’, he argued. ‘‘We thought we would be able to raise our vote share on the basis of the Centre’s performance and PM Modi’s promise of fast paced development but our calculations did not work out. Our rivals’ vote transferability was very good and therefore their strike rate much better,’’ he said.
When asked if president Amit Shah should own up responsibility for the failed calculations, Jaitley said, ‘‘In elections, wins and losses are collective.’’ FM Jaitley also indicated a fresh bid to push the reforms agenda saying the government would ‘stay on its course’. About the fate of reforms, he said it was very hopeful of positive results. ‘‘Some decisions are executive (on reforms), some legislative. The GST Bill is important as it requires a constitution amendment. We hope sooner or later the Congress would see reason. The GST bill will particularly benefit states like Bihar’, he pointed out in a clear move to woo Nitish Kumar.
