Subdued atmosphere at BJP national headquarters

The BJP national headquarters here wore a subdued look for much of the day on Thursday as it emerged that the party's performance in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls fell short of expectation, especially in the northern state where it appeared unlikely to get majority.

There were not much celebration even though its spokespersons exuded confidence that the BJP will be able to form government in Haryana as well after it appeared set to get a majority in Maharashtra.

"Congress is a tired party and BJP is energetic. And, this energy is the genesis of democracy and that is what is needed by the people," BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, as he lauded the party's show in Maharashtra.

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GVL Narasimha Rao, also a spokesperson, when asked about the close contest with the Congress in Haryana, said, "Congress these days sees a victory in their losses too, or calls it moral victory, instead of a defeat."

"Haryana has traditionally been a Congress stronghold. And, until 2014, our vote share was not even 2 per cent. It was in 2014 that we scripted a big win," he told reporters.

Responding to taunts by Congress that people of Haryana have rejected M L Khattar and BJP there, he said, "Congress is in a hurry".

"The trends are coming and we are leading in both states. And, we are looking forward to form government in Haryana too by emerging as the single largest party," he said.

"And, if we fall short of the numbers in Haryana, then we will try to seek alliance with our small allies," Rao said.

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The BJP had coined the slogan of "abki baar 75 paar (will cross 75 this time)" for its poll campaigning in Haryana. It had 47 seats in the outgoing assembly.

Hanuman Kaushik, 40, who had come all the way from Haryana's Bhiwani in the morning, was disappointed to see the low-key atmosphere at the BJP headquarters.

"No sweets, no flowers, no flag-waving, party workers are not jubilant, given the trends coming in from Haryana, much below the expectations," he said.

Kaushik, who wore the 'Chowkidar' campaign t-shirt, alleged that local party leaders and workers had become complacent that "victory will come based on euphoria generated by the abrogation of special provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir".

"Work was not done on the ground-level much, compared to what rival Congress did," claimed another party worker, Kisan Lal Bhandula.

Bhandula, who lives in Darya Ganj in Delhi, said he had been serving since the Jan Sangh days.

"You can see the mood is subdued at the BJP headquarters. Haryana trends are showing, we boasted of '75 paar' but looks like its not even '40 paar' yet. We should have worked more on the ground level," he said.