Vajpayee owns responsibility for BJP's defeat

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday said he owned 'maximum' responsibility for the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

"I take maximum responsibility for the defeat because the elections were fought in my name. I will do penance for it," he told reporters in Pirni, Himachal Pradesh.

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The defeat was not of any individual but a 'collective defeat' and 'we have to find out the reasons' and solutions for it. Of late, he has been seeking an internal debate in the BJP on the Gujarat riots saying they were partly responsible for the setback to the party.

He sidestepped a question whether he would lead the party in the next election but expressed his resolve to avenge the BJP's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

"Our opponents got more votes than us in the elections. I will try my best to get more votes next time," he said addressing school children in this picturesque hamlet in Manali.

"Victory and defeat go side by side in life. One should not weep over the loss," he said and referred to the resumption of Indo-Pak sporting ties.

Ruing India's backwardness and illiteracy, the former premier said it was the responsibility of all citizens to make the country a great nation.