On Saturday, May 13, the counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly polls took place in which the Congress party emerged victorious. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up a distant second getting less than half the seats of Congress.
Following the defeat of the party in the election, several BJP supporters online have blamed various factors for the defeat. Everything, from lack of strong local leadership to anti-incumbency to religious polarisation to caste factor has been highlighted as the reason for the defeat.
Amidst all this, an old interview of PM Narendra Modi from February 2022 is being shared on social media. In his interview with ANI’s Smita Prakash, PM Modi talked about what the party does in the wake of a defeat in an election.
When asked since he gets the credit from the supporters when BJP wins, then does he take defeats personally as well, and what kind of introspection is done by the party leaders after defeats, PM Modi replied that defeats in elections aren’t something new for the party. He mentioned that BJP has seen several defeats and has started winning only after losing several such elections. The Prime Minister also mentioned that since the time of Jan Sangh, the party has lost several elections and even used to lose deposits on most of the seats.
PM Modi further said that when they win an election, their attempt is to connect even more with the ground-level realities. After winning an election, the PM said, their party’s attempt is to win the hearts of the people by providing solutions to their problems. He mentioned that the party makes a conscious effort to address the concerns of the people on the ground instead of letting the victory get to its head.
Further, talking about defeats in elections, PM Modi said that when they face electoral reverses, even then they try to find hope and positivity in defeats instead of sinking into negativity. The Prime Minister said that instead of trying to lay the blame here or there, BJP analyses the campaign and promises of the opposition along with reevaluating its own campaign.
After analysing all that, the party develops its strategy for the future, PM Modi added. He further said that whether it is a win or loss, elections always provide some education to them and they take it as a learning experience.
The complete interview can be seen here