Cong''s ''disappearance'' led to BJP''s defeat in Delhi: Javadekar

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said the "sudden disappearance" of the Congress was

responsible for the BJP's defeat in Delhi Assembly polls as it led to a direct fight between his party and the Aam Aadmi

Party (AAP). The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP swept the Delhi Assembly

polls by winning 62 of the total 70 seats. While the BJP won eight seats, the Congress failed to open its account for the

second consecutive election. "The (BJP's) defeat in Delhi elections was because of

the sudden disappearance of the Congress. It is a different subject whether the Congress disappeared (on its own), people

made it disappear or whether their votes got transferred (to AAP)," Javadekar said in a press conference here.

He said the Congress, which had got 26 per cent votes in Lok Sabha elections, could win only 4 per cent votes in

Delhi elections. "Because of Congress's disappearance, there was a

direct fight between the BJP and the AAP. We had expected 42 per cent votes for us and 48 per cent for AAP, but our

prediction failed by 3 per cent each. We (BJP) got 39 per cent votes, while the AAP received 51 per cent votes," he said.

The minister said that ups and downs were bound to happen in elections.

"But the BJP does an analysis of all these things," he added.

When asked about his remarks, in which he had described Kejriwal as a "terrorist", he said he had never made

this kind of statement. Earlier this month, Javadekar had said that Kejriwal

had called himself an "anarchist" and there is not much of a "difference between an anarchist and a terrorist".

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that hate speeches like 'goli maro' and 'Indo-Pak match' made by

BJP leaders during the Delhi Assembly election campaign may have resulted in the party's defeat.

When asked about Shah's remarks, Javadekar said his observations are important.

"But there are other reasons for the defeat and the review will be done," he said.

"Ours is a party that keeps learning. We learn from our victories and defeats. So an analysis of the defeat will

be done at the party level," Javadekar said.