Lok Sabha by-poll defeats due to neglect of party workers, says BJP MLA

In remarks that could embarrass the ruling party, BJP MLA Surendra Singh today attributed the party's defeat in the recent Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-elections to the "over-confidence" of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the state bureaucracy and the neglect of workers.

"The BJP's arithmetic in Gorakhpur and Phulpur was not disturbed by the SP-BSP but by party workers who did not come out to vote because of their continued neglect. It is also the result of the chief minister's, and his ministers', over-confidence in the bureaucracy," he said.

Singh was talking to news-persons on the sidelines of a function held to felicitate newly elected MP Sakaldeep Rajbhar.

Cautioning the party, he said even though leaders are the engines, the workers are like fuel, without which the engine cannot function.

The Bairiya MLA also criticised BSP chief Mayawati for her "understanding" with the Samajwadi Party.

Singh is known to have made controversial statements in the past, such as 'India will be Hindu Rashtra by 2024' and when he branded all those refusing to say "Bharat Mata ki jai" as Pakistanis.