People voted against regionalism: Joshi

The Lok Sabha polls have sown seeds for a new political dimension with people voting against regionalism, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today said.       

"Indian people have voted against 'bikhraw' and 'kshetrawad' (disintegration and regionalism).Is baar ke parinaam mein nayi rajneetik disha ke beej awashya hain, (the verdict has seeds of new political dimensions)," he told PTI in an interview.        

Asked whether he viewed the results as a big defeat of BJP or a big victory of Congress, Joshi said, "It was neither a big debacle of the BJP nor a big victory of the Congress."  

However, "the truth is that we have lost some seats but it is not such a big loss as is being projected," he said.        

The former union minister said BJP will now properly play the role of a healthy opposition.        

On the Women's Reservation Bill, Joshi said, "We have no opposition to reservation for women. All political parties should give tickets to women candidates to ensure their proper representation in the legislature. Women should be given fair representation not only in political arena, but also in other fields".

Joshi said it was unfortunate that criminals and musclemen were given tickets in the elections. "But the electorate gave a mandate against criminal elements and musclemen and political parties should learn a lesson from it," he added.        

Asked about the traffic problems in his constituency Varanasi, he said, "The feasibility of Metro rail must be studied for Varanasi and for this purpose the expertise of the BHU-IT scientists should be utilised."        

He also suggested that the construction of a ring road in Varanasi must be taken up immediately to decongest the city.