Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley, who had kept silent on attacks from party colleagues on him and others for the Lok Sabha poll debacle, on Thursday said that there should be collective responsibility for the outcome and the party should think of the future.
"Political parties are run in a manner where you have a group of people... We all work for the party and try sharing various responsibilities and therefore whether in victory or in defeat, party has to think ahead. The parties don't have to spat as far as a public war is concerned and therefore keeping that discipline I have decided to stick by this discipline," Jaitley, who was in charge of party poll campaign, told NDTV.
Asked to react to comments by senior BJP leaders like Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha, who after elections had said as to why people in charge of election campaign (referring to Jaitley), were not taking responsibility, Jaitley said that keeping in mind the party discipline, he decided "not to respond to any of these comments."
"Everybody in the party takes collective responsibility. That is how we all do it. And I am a part of it," he added.
"I have never taken any credit for victory. I am willing to share part of the credit, discredit as far as our defeat is concerned", he said.
To a question if the phrase "henchmen" mentioned in senior party leader Arun Shourie's newspaper article on BJP's poll show applied to him, Jaitley said, "I'm not saying that it doesn't apply to me. These are the phrases we do not use in the party".
On Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's projection as potential prime minister damaging the party's PM candidate L K Advani's chances in polls, Jaitley said, "In the days of instant journalism people make comments which have validity for a given period of time. But don't forget the fact that there is no last day in the calendar of politics. It's an evolving calendar. Therefore you never write obituaries in this manner and never do that in case of politicians," he said.
On Modi's so-called fall from grace after the party's electoral loss in Junagarh assembly constituency, especially after being projected as a possible PM candidate, Jaitley said a lot has been made out of Junagarh.
"Numerically, BJP still got more votes than Congress. It is just that Congress got four more seats than BJP. So, it's marginal in that sense. And its attributable to local performance factors in that constituency," he said.
Defending Modi, Jaitley said, "He has governed Gujarat and has done it well. Now, I think it's being a little unfair seeing his performance in the last seven years to say that we won't give you any credit for the way the integrity, the competence in which you have led Gujarat."
"We will just keep you confined to one event of 2002 (post-Godhra riots). I think politics evolves and we are also seeing what he's done in Gujarat in all these years and those who were hardened critics of a man must also start analysing it from an open mind," Jaitley added.
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