BJP lost due to low voter turnout in bypolls: Javadekar

Union minister Prakash Javadekar today attributed the BJP's by-poll defeat in two of the three Lok Sabha seats it had to the difference in the voter turnout as compared to general elections and said opposition unity was not a threat to the saffron party.

He said the BJP was a "thinking party" and that it would analyse the reasons for the bypoll defeat and take necessary actions.

"Out of three (Lok Sabha seats which were with the BJP) we lost two. There's a difference between general elections and by-polls. In general elections, the voting percentage in all the three seats was more than 70 per cent. Now, it was 50 per cent. So the difference in the voting percentage produced a different result," Javadekar told reporters at the Press Club here.

"We are a thinking party. We are not dynasts. We have already started analysing in detail, up to the booth level and we will take necessary action," he said.

Though the BJP managed to retain the Palghar parliamentary seat in Maharashtra, they lost Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra and Kairana in Uttar Pradesh.

Hailing the BJP's showing in elections in 14 other states in the last four years, the central minister said, "Winning elections in 14 states is an achievement. It's okay if we have lost two by-elections. We will analyse."
On opposition unity posing a threat to the BJP, he said: "Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal came together in Uttar Pradesh. It happens often in politics. It is not a threat to the BJP."