BJP senior leader Arun Jaitley admitted that, the party’s irresponsible statements changed the narrative in Bihar elections.

Upon the defeat of BJP in Bihar elections, the party leaders are analyzing all the pros and cons. Regarding this, Arun Jaitley said, “the party made many irresponsible statements, without even thinking about the possibility of those. That brought the severe negative impression on the party.

“Moreover, incidents like Dadri lynching and the killing of rationalist MM Kalburgi in Karnataka were "aberrations" and "not the pattern" in India, and called for distinguishing between those committing such crimes and those just being "loose talkers,” Jaitley said.

“During the period when the elections were being contested, some irresponsible statements did change the narrative. That is not expected from responsible people. I had repeatedly intervened in order to make sure that the narrative comes back.”     

“As far as plan is concerned, I think those may be incidental factors. How much they impacted on Bihar, I really do not know,” Jaitley added.

Is Bihar election, a referendum on Centre’s policies?

When asked whether the Bihar election was a referendum on the policies of the Centre, Jaitley, said, “The word referendum is loosely used, every election is not a referendum. A state election is not a referendum. You are not contesting on one issue.”

Jaitley further said that, the victory of Mahaghatbandhan was only on the account of joining hands with different opposition forces. He opined that, the vote share of BJP, has not come down yet.
 
Speaking about the intolerance, Jaitley said, “India is the "most tolerant" society in the world and it will "reject" any contention that "a stray incident happening in any part of India will make it intolerant.”

"India is tolerant. Though some unfortunate incidents take place sometimes, that do not make India an intolerant society. India is a liberal society. It will continue to remain one," he said.

Jaitley commented about the remarks of some Hindu hotheads saying that, in a large political party, it is possible to pick up one or two people. Acknowledging that they need to be careful about the comments they make, Jaitley said the media is also in the habit of chasing them.

“There is a perception of this government being decisive, being honest and of being on a development path. There are, as I said, aberrations, which take place where somebody makes a loose statement or some incident takes place in Karnataka, or in Dadri, which should never have taken place...unfortunate incidents. "But then those are aberrations in a large country like India. Those are not the pattern as far as India is concerned,” Jaitley ended.  

By Phani Ch