YAMUNANAGAR: Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Bijender Singh on Wednesday said the agriculture laws passed by the Centre were one of the factors behind BJP losing the Baroda byelection.
Talking to the media in Yamunanagar, where he had come to attend an event in personal capacity, Singh admitted that there has been ‘some lapses’ on the part of the party and said there is a need to reflect on the reasons that led to their candidate Yogeshwar Dutt’s defeat in the bypoll.
“However,” Singh said, “BJP’s vote percentage in Baroda has increased from about 36% to 40%. But, it is also true that a lot of work needs to be done to empower the party cadres in rural Haryana.”
Singh said apart from that, the farmers were also angry as they felt that the central farm laws are not in their interest. “The grassroots level workers of BJP did not make whole-hearted efforts to make the farmers understand that these laws are good for them.”
When asked how the BJP candidate failed to win even though there was support of alliance partner Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), Singh said, “Only top BJP leaders can throw light on that.”