BJP virtually concedes defeat

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Virtually conceding defeat in
the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) elections, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday said the trends were
"disappointing" and not on expected lines.

"Trends are not on expected lines. It is little
disappointing....We concede UPA is ahead," BJP spokesperson
Balbir Punj said as trends indicated that the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) was racing ahead.

He said the party's parliamentary board will meet to
analyse what went wrong.

Punj said the trends were also not expected lines in
the states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
Kerala for Third Front.

Admitting that Congress "seems to have the upper
hand", another BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said "as of now UPA
is leading. We are lagging behind."

Asked what went wrong, Naidu said "that has to be
analysed. It is disappointing, I do agree".

Noting that UPA has a big lead over the BJP according
to trends, Punj identified Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Gujarat as some of the states which did not give results on
expected lines.

To a question, he said that party as a whole takes
responsibility for the results. "This election results will
teach us something as all elections have some lessons to
give," he said.

Asked whether the party missed former prime minister A
B Vajpayee, he said, "We always miss him."

He, however, parried questions on whether Vajpayee's
absence affected BJP's electoral performance. PTI