BJP examines causes for Jharkhand election defeat

After losing power in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started examining the causes of electoral defeat.

Former Chief Minister Raghubar Das was also called to Delhi in this regard a few days ago, sources said.

BJP sources said that the party believes one of the major factors behind the embarrassing election defeat was that local leaders were not given preference in the state polls. The saffron party will now prefer local leaders for better performance in Assembly elections in other states, sources said.

Rebel BJP leader Saryu Rai, who defeated Das from Jamshedpur (East) Assembly seat, said that BJP had given powers to Das, while other party leaders were marginalised.

Sources in the BJP said that the party will examine issues such as internal strife in the party's state units, besides analysing the prospects of a united opposition.

BJP sources said that these points will be included in the party's strategy for next year's elections in Delhi and Bihar.

Sources said that following Jharkhand defeat, the party will now hear the voices of local party units, especially in states where BJP is in power.

The people of Jharkhand were satisfied with the development work done by the Raghubar government and the central government, but people were angry with Raghubar Das for various other reasons. Local leaders and activists were igniored during ticket distribution, instead the tickets were given to the leaders coming from other parties. According to party sources, this angered voters and resulted in the election defeat.

After losing the Assembly elections, Das met BJP President Amit Shah and National Executive Chairman JP Nadda.

Chatra MP Sunil Singh said that BJP will learn lessons from the mistakes made in Jharkhand elections and will strategise rectifying the mistakes in future elections.

Raghubar Das lost the Assembly election to Saryu Rai, a prominent leader of his own party. Rai is not only known as a strong local leader, but also as a leader with a clean image. Another reason behind voters' displeasure was that BJP distributed tickets to corrupt "leaders" during elections.