Statement by Shri L.K. Advani At a press conference in New Delhi

This is my first press conference after the elections to the 14th Lok Sabha. It is taking place when a new government, headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh, has assumed office. As far as the BJP is concerned, it is time both to look back with introspection and to look ahead with determination.

The BJP has accepted the people's verdict with humility. We have already stated that we will perform the role of a constructive and responsible opposition in Parliament. We wish the new Prime Minister well and assure him of our cooperation in all policies and actions that are in the national and people's interest.

At the same time, I would like the Congress-led coalition government not to misread the people's fractured verdict as a decisive mandate for any alliance, much less for any single party, and certainly not for any individual. The Congress did not contest the elections with any nationwide pre-poll alliance. Its own seats in the Lok Sabha are only seven more than those of the BJP. The only unequivocal interpretation of the divided verdict of Elections 2004 is that, the people of India expect the new government to follow the path of maximum consensus, not only within the ruling alliance but also with the opposition.

The new government should know that seeking the cooperation of the BJP and the NDA is not only desirable from the point of view of political decorum, but also made necessary and imperative by the people's mandate itself. The people expect the new government to both acknowledge and continue the good work initiated by the NDA Government. Willful and vindictive discontinuity goes against the people's verdict itself.


The outcome of the elections has gone completely against our expectations - indeed, against everyone's expectations, including our opponents'. For the BJP, the situation calls for introspection and firm corrective action. It is for the Party President to announce the steps that he will take to commence the process of review, and for the Party's National Executive to decide on the future course of action. Nevertheless, I wish to make a few observations here based on my own reflections.

Multiple factors for the electoral setback: No single factor accounts for our electoral defeat. In some States, we suffered along with our allies. In others, we suffered because we did not forge proper alliances. In urban constituencies, where we fared poorly, the turnout of our supporters was low. It is significant that, contrary to the general impression, the NDA fared better in the rural areas and the Congress fared better in the urban areas. In some States, our organizational weaknesses contributed to our setback. A fairly common factor in many constituencies was the "local anti-incumbency" directed at the sitting MPs who were renominated. What went wrong in which State, requires closer and comprehensive study.

Not a national verdict, but an aggregate of State verdicts: In these elections, we made 'Development' and 'Good Governance' our chief commitment and urged the people to judge our promise on the basis of our government's performance. However, it is now clear that these issues did not have the kind of sustained nationwide emotional appeal that would transcend the influence of local or episodic factors on the voters. In states like UP and Bihar, where we suffered the most, the influence of caste identity and caste combinations proved more powerful than our promise of 'Development' and 'Good Governance'. The outcome of this Lok Sabha election, therefore, instead of being the people's national verdict became an aggregate of State verdicts.

Our opponents' negative campaign prevailed over our positive campaign: There is no doubt that India progressed considerably in several areas during the six years of the NDA government. India's impressive achievements certainly raised her prestige and standing in the international community. There was also a sharp rise in the atmosphere of hope and self-confidence within the country.

However, in retrospect, it seems that the fruits of development did not equitably reach all sections of our society. Although equitable development was, and continues to be, our unshakable commitment, we failed to effectively communicate to the poor and the deprived that five years was too short a time to fulfill it. On the other hand, the Congress and the Communists carried out a viciously negative campaign, replete with falsehoods, to claim that India had actually suffered ruination under the NDA government. The tone and content of their campaign was such that poverty and unemployment did not exist during the long Congress rule, but were actually the creation of the NDA government!

"Feel Good Factor" and "India Shining" phraseology hurt us: In this context, I would like to admit that the two catchphrases of our poll campaign - the "Feel Good Factor" and "India Shining" - did not benefit us. These phrases, though valid in themselves, were inappropriate for our election campaign.

Nobody can deny that there was generally a "feel good" atmosphere in the country over the past one year on account of a combination of factors: accelerating economic growth, which was widely praised both at home and abroad; sound macro-economic management; a good monsoon yielding an all-time high food production; praise for India on account of her shining achievements in sectors such as IT; a sharp dip in incidents of cross-border terrorism; the long-hoped for turnaround in the situation in Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East; and anticipation of a new chapter of peace and cooperation with Pakistan, thanks to the visionary initiative by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

However, by making the "Feel Good Factor" and "India Shining" the verbal icons of our election campaign, we gave an opportunity to our political opponents to highlight other aspects of India's contemporary reality - poverty and uneven development, unemployment among the youth, problems faced by kisans, etc. - which questioned our claim. As I said earlier, the BJP is not responsible for these problems; nevertheless, the negative campaign of the Congress and the Communists succeeded in creating a wedge between our Party and a section of the population. It also took the focus away from the inspiring vision we had placed before the country - that of making India a Developed Nation by 2020.

I must point out that the unbecoming manner in which our adversaries ridiculed "India Shining" and the "Feel Good Factor" once again raises serious questions about their basic outlook. For, they were not only criticizing the BJP; they were actually mocking and belittling India's achievements.

The BJP has not abandoned, and will not abandon, its ideology: The election results have triggered a debate in some quarters about whether the BJP lost because it "abandoned its Hindutva issues". The flip side of the same debate is the argument that the defeat would now send the BJP "back to its Hindutva issues". Both sides of the debate are rooted in a wrong understanding of the BJP, its core ideology of cultural nationalism, and Hindutva.

We remain firm and unapologetic about our espousal of Hindutva. We shall continue to wage an ideological battle against those who portray 'Hindutva' as "communal" for their narrow political ends. This is because, as the Supreme Court itself has noted, Hindutva is the basic identity of India. As far as the BJP is concerned, 'Hindutva', 'Bharateeyata' and 'Indianness' are synonymous. We care for every Indian, irrespective of their caste or creed.


No to despondency; Yes to introspection and action: I wish to urge all the workers and supporters of the BJP not to feel despondent because of this poll setback. We must examine objectively why the voters voted as they did. While self-criticism is very much needed, there should be no self-flagellation. Nor should we let our opponents' unfounded and arrogant attack on our Party go uncontested. We should stoutly defend the performance of the NDA government, under the able leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Our government accomplished much in the past six years. Some of these, such as the courageous decision to make India a nuclear weapons state, the turnaround in Jammu & Kashmir and in the North-East and the numerous development initiatives, will go down in history bearing the name of Shri Vajpayee. He was universally acclaimed as the finest Prime Minister India had after Pandit Nehru.

I have no doubt that the future is bright for the BJP. The setback we have received is temporary. In its electoral history, the BJP has seen many ups and downs. The most traumatic setback we suffered was in 1984 when the party could win only two Lok Sabha seats in the whole country. That defeat, however, had nothing to do with the BJP's failings, or with any superiority of our opponents. It was the outcome of a certain situation.

We accepted the 1984 results as a challenge and converted in into an opportunity. We made that year a turning point in the history of Indian elections, and of Indian politics. In the two decades that followed, the BJP's growth has been phenomenal, and India has become a bipolar polity with the BJP and the Congress becoming the two principal poles of national politics.

The source of our optimism and self-confidence: Our hope and confidence lies in the enormous goodwill and support that the BJP continues to enjoy in Indian society. The total votes secured by the BJP in these elections have increased by two percentage points. In three States - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - we have repeated our victorious performance in the Assembly elections held in December 2003. In two Congress-ruled States - Karnataka and Punjab - we significantly improved our position. In Orissa, along with our ally, the Biju Janata Dal, we won a renewed mandate in the Assembly elections.

We have a large network of dedicated workers all over the country, for whom power for the sake of power has never been the motivation to work in the political sphere. Nor are their labours directed at serving any dynasty's ambitions for power. They have devoted their lives to serve Mother India, undeterred by defeat and ever willing to overcome any challenge. This lofty inspiration and the organized will power of tens of thousands of BJP workers and millions of our supporters is the guarantee that "We Shall Return".

Tasks before the Party: No doubt, we have to work very hard at every level. We have to take firm steps to remedy the many deficiencies that have cropped up in the Party's organization in the course of our rapid expansion over the past two decades. We remain fully committed to developing the BJP as a "Party with a difference". The people of India have high hopes from our Party. The BJP will initiate sustained efforts to align the party organization with our core ideals and principles.

We will further strengthen the NDA. We will, above all, re-connect to the people, listen to what they have to say, articulate their problems both inside and outside Parliament, and mobilize them in mass political activity. All this the BJP will do in the months to come, based on a well-thought out programme chalked out by the President and his new soon-to-be-announced team.