BJP forms committee to find causes behind UP poll defeat

LUCKNOW: After receiving a drubbing in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the BJP today constituted an 11-member committee to introspect the party's poll performance.

BJP managed to get only 47 seats, four less than it secured in 2007 polls, in the 403-member UP Assembly.

"A review of the poll results was done during a meeting of the office-bearers and it has been decided to constitute a committee headed by Laxmikant Bajpai to study causes," state president Surya Pratap Shahi told reporters here.

Shahi said that the committee would study situations which led to party's defeat and suggest corrective measures.

People's decision was supreme and BJP would play the role of a creative Opposition in the house, he said.

"The party expected 100 seats and preparations were made accordingly. From the atmosphere there was feeling that party would get good success," he said.

The state president said that the party suffered due to polarisation of votes while ruling out infighting within the cadre as one of the reasons behind debacle.

"We would have got good number of seats, if polarisation would not have happened. A review of other reasons would be done," he said.

Shahi said that district level meetings would be held in which assembly wise review would be done by March 31.

He said that the party has also decided to contest local body elections with full preparations for which two committees have been constituted.

BJP also faced flack from the RSS, which critisised the party's "lack of leadership" for its poor performance.