RSS leaders, who had been quite assertive during selection of candidates, distanced themselves from the BJPs Uttar Pradesh leadership when many of their recommendations on possible candidates were ignored, the reports are said to have pointed out.
Disturbed by this and some other factors brought to its notice by the reports, the BJP has set-up a high-powered five-member committee for an indepth study of the factors that led to the partys electoral debacle.
The committee was formed yesterday after intense dicussions between party President LK Advani and four general secretaries Govindacharya, Kush-abhau Thakre, Pramod Mahajan and Venkaiah Naidu.
The member of the committee are BJP vice-president Bangaru Laxman, general secretary Sushma Swaraj, secretary Narendra Modi and leader of the Opposition in the Bihar legislative assembly Sushil Kumar Modi. Govindachrya will be the convenor of the committee.
The report is to be presented at the partys national executive meeting in Jaipur.
The Uttar Pradesh state units reports indicate that the party buckled under pressure from local satraps and renominated many candidates even in the face of stiff opposition from the partys rank and file.
The victory of as many as 24 of the 46 new candidates was an indication that more candidates should have been changed, a party leader said. The BJP failed to project the image of a clean party.
Despite all its precautions, a dozen criminals found their way into the partys list of candidates, he said. Other factors that have come to light include the partys failures to find an election issue, make inroads into the most backward castes votes and evolve suitable strategies at the local level.
There was also absence of coordination at various levels.
The senior leader expressed serious concern about the BJPs failure to increase its share of popular votes even after former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Raos resignation from the Congress presidenship in the wake of the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case created a favourable situation for it. The BJP could not force project any election issue to catch the imagination of the masses.
It also failed to project the relatively cleaner image of Kalyan Singh as an issue at the districts and mandal levels, he said.
