Division of opposition votes helped Cong, says BJP

Accepting its defeat in Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said that the Congress had benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties.

"The Congress has benefited from the division of votes of the opposition parties. In Maharashtra, it is clear that the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena is a factor. Similarly, in Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Janhit Congress divided the opposition votes. If these parties contest together with the BJP, we can defeat the Congress," senior BJP leader Vijay Goel said.

Goel, who is the BJP in-charge of Haryana and was keen on an alliance with the HJC, said his party was working hard to emerge as an alternative to the Congress in Maharashtra and Haryana.

When asked whether he felt not having Raj Thackeray on board in Maharashtra or contesting alone in Haryana had cost the party dear in these assembly elections, Goel said, "Whether we should have had an alliance or not is now an after-thought."

However, he steered clear of commenting on the role played by the Electronic Voting Machines in the party's defeat.

"I don't want to comment on the EVMs. The views of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi are personal," he said.

Naqvi had told reporters that EVMs had turned into Electronic Victory Machines of the Congress and this had led to the BJP's defeat. Later, he retracted his statement, saying the causes of the loss will have to be analysed once all the results are declared.