Strongly defending L K Advani after the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, former party vice-president Venkaiah Naidu has said that different states behaved separately and the party's performance had nothing to do with the leader "alone". "There are various reasons...different states behaved in different manner. It is not about leaders alone," Naidu said.
He was responding to a question by Karan Thapar in the Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN whether Advani's age and his hardliner image was the reason behind BJP's defeat. The former BJP president said no individual is responsible for the party's performance and, therefore, Advani cannot be held solely responsible.
"Of Advaniji there is no comparison in this country. There were local factors. If Advani is rejected or Manmohan Singh is accepted, there has to be uniform trend across the country, small, minor exceptions. That is not the case. You have seen good results in number of states," he added.
He said Advani's image is of a decisive leader. He termed as "propaganda by some of our opponents" suggestions that Advani's image as a hardliner worked against the party. "Whoever knows Advani, they all know that he is a nationalist to the core. He thinks of the entire nation, not about any section," Naidu said.
