MRIGANKA BLAMES HER DEFEAT ON ‘GRAND ALLIANCE’

KAIRANA: BJP candidate Mriganka Singh on Thursday said the grand alliance of all opposition parties led to her defeat in Kairana Lok Sabha by-election.

Wishing good luck to the winning candidate Tabassum Hasan of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Mriganka made no bones in admitting that the ‘mahagathbandhan’ emerged as a big force in the election and gave a tough fight to her and the party.

Insisting that her defeat indicates that 2019 election will be a big challenge, she said the BJP should re-strategise to counter the challenge of ‘grand alliance’.

Claiming that there could be multiple factors behind her defeat, Singh said party leaders and workers campaigned with utmost commitment.

“Perhaps, we failed to convey our message to the people,” she said.

On being asked whether negative campaign of the BJP in which they raised issues such as Muzaffarnagar riots and Pakistan founder MA Jinnah went against her, she said it was not so.

In 2014, her father and senior BJP leader Hukum Singh won the seat by a margin of more than a lakh and secured 5,65, 909 votes, which was 50% of the total votes polled.

Mriganka said the party would have to analyse the result threadbare to find out why it could not attract voters in its support.

On the delay in sugarcane dues, Singh admitted that people were jittery over the issue despite assurance by the chief minister.

BJP’s election in-charge Devendra Singh said: “We would analyse the factors responsible for the outcome of the election.”

› Perhaps, we failed to convey our message to the people

MRIGANKA SINGH, BJP candidate