BJP should learn to digest success, says Shiv Sena on poll results

Mumbai: With the BJP on course to win big in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and attain pole position in Manipur and Goa, the Shiv Sena on Thursday said the BJP should learn to digest success and attributed its performance in recent Assembly polls to good election management.

On its dismal performance in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur, Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said his party received fewer votes than NOTA (none of the above) because it fell “short of the notes” the BJP used.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party failed to open its account in states where it fielded its candidates.

Raut also took a dig at the BJP, a former ally of the Shiv Sena, over its poor performance in Punjab, where the national party failed to make a mark in the Assembly polls.

“What success did the BJP, a national party with Modi-Shah at its face, achieve in Punjab?” the Rajya Sabha MP asked.

“It is easy to digest failure, but the BJP should learn to digest success. (Only) some people can digest success,” Raut said, reacting to the BJP’s performance in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur Assembly polls.

The BJP is set to retain power in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the party has attained pole position in Goa and Manipur, where it is on course to form the next government.

In Punjab, the AAP secured an impressive win, decimating the ruling Congress.

Raut said the Congress party’s election management in Punjab was not right.

On the other hand, the Sena MP said, “The BJP’s win is victory of its good election management.” The Shiv Sena contested Assembly polls in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, and Manipur and suffered a drubbing in all three states. It had deployed a battery of leaders, including Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray, for canvassing votes for party candidates.

“It is right that the Sena received less votes than NOTA because we could not manage the notes used by the BJP. Still, we contested in Goa and Uttar Pradesh. Our fight will continue. Victory or defeat is not the end, it is the start. In the future, we will continue to work,” the Sena leader said.

Raut said the Congress and the Samajwadi Party headed by Akhilesh Yadav also did not get desired poll results in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was getting a lot of response in Uttar Pradesh during campaigning, but that did not translate into electoral success. Even the Akhilesh Yadav-led alliance did not get the desired success, the Sena MP said.