BJP defeat in Delhi a setback, says Naidu

New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu Thursday said party's defeat in Delhi assembly elections was a "setback" and the party will learn lessons from it.

In an interview to Karan Thapar in "To The Point" programme on Headlines Today news channel, Naidu said that the party will needs to reach out more to people and be able to win in a contest where opposition parties combine against it.

The Bharatiya Janata Party could win only three of 70 seats in Delhi with the Aam Aadmi Party winning the remaining 67 seats.

Asked if elections in Delhi should have been held soon after the Lok Sabha polls, Naidu said that this was a "tactical mistake".

"Definitely every election is a lesson. It is a setback. We will analyse, understand and take corrective steps," he said.

He claimed the outcome was decided the day the AAP promised to reduce power tariff by half and slash water bills, adding the BJP could not have made such promises as it is difficult to fulfil them.

He said voters thought that (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi was good for the country and "Kejriwal with all his promises is good for Delhi".

"We could make the promises. He (Kejriwal) thought first win and then perform. We understand the reality," Naidu said.

Asked about the role of party's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, Naidu said there was no point in "going back".

"There is no meaning in going back. Kiran Bedi was not responsible for defeat. Whether it (her projection) added or not added that has to be analysed," he said, adding her own loss from the party's traditional Krishna Nagar seat was "unfortunate".

He agreed that the party should have taken early decision on candidates but noted that the party's vote share was almost intact.

"Every election, you have to learn lessons. The biggest lesson my party is to learn is that you are winning in a three-cornered contest. But when all opponents combine, you must be able to win," he said.

He said vote share of the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Left and some other parties got shifted to AAP and BJP will analyse why all these votes shifted to AAP and not to it.

He admitted that some controversial statements of party leaders had damaged party's prospects.