Lucknow: The BJP’s defeat in the recent Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur cannot be seen as a referendum on the policies and programmes of the party’s government at the Centre or in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Sunday.
He, however, added that the BJP had learnt a “lesson” (from the outcome) and said he was confident the party would perform better in future polls, especially the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“I don’t see the results as a referendum,” he said at a media event here.
The UP CM said the SP-BSP combine had not made any dent in the saffron party’s vote bank, reports PTI.
“Our vote bank is intact,” he said.
Stressing that the SP-BSP understanding was not an alliance but a “political deal”, he said everyone knew these two parties had “damaged” the state in the past.
During the campaign for the bypolls, the results of which were announced last week, the chief minister had launched a frontal attack on the two parties, referring to them as a “snake and mole”.
“Whatever I have said is right, and I still stick to it,” Adityanath, who is also a mahant of the Gorakhnath Temple, said, when a media-person asked about his choice of words.
The CM also described the rival parties as private limited companies.
“The SP and the BSP are private limited companies, one-man shows and undemocratic, as these are family-based organisations,” he said.