Was not part of drafting; discuss issue internally: Govindacharya

NEW DELHI: Former RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya today sought to dissociate himself from the criticism by BJP elders against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Bihar polls, and said the senior leaders should have discussed the matter internally.

Earlier tonight, a statement released from senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi's residence demanded a thorough review of the electoral debacle in Bihar, saying that the party has been "emasculated" in the last one year and was being "forced to kow-tow to a handful".

Before the statement was released, former Union minister Arun Shourie along with Govindacharya, a former BJP member, were closeted with Joshi.

Stating that he had been to Joshi's residence to greet him on the occasion of Diwali, Govindacharya clarified that he "wasn't part of the drafting process at all".

"Just for Deepawali greetings I had gone to Murli Manohar Joshi's residence. I didn't know that any statement was getting prepared or anybody was drafting it. I wasn't part of the drafting process at all.

"I have never been rebel. I was always a sincere party worker and I, on my own, relinquished the party membership and went on for other works," he said.

On the criticism by BJP veterans, including L K Advani, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha, over Bihar poll debacle, Govindacharya stressed that communication and trust within the party needs to be improved.

"I have always held the opinion that in success don't lose your head, in defeat don't lose your heart. In successful regime, one has to learn lessons. So along with learning lessons, march forward as a team which means (having) trust and dialogue.

"Any kind of such disturbing scenario (criticism by BJP elders) indicates that dialogue should be improved. And trust also should be deepened. I feel it is more like a communication gap and even if all this is there, then whatever problems maybe, sorting the problems internally will be better than in front of the camera," he said.