BJP to analyse causes of UP polls defeat: Advani

Analysing the causes of the drubbing the Bharatiya Janata Party received in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Leader of Opposition and senior BJP leader L K Advani on Tuesday said the party would soon have a detailed review of the polls in the country's most populous and political sensitive state.

Presiding over Parliamentary Party members, Mr Advani said it was obvious that the people did not see the BJP as an alternative to the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state, and hence the it lost out to Bahujan Samaj Party. The party strength tumbled down from 88 MLAs in 2002 to 50 seats in 2007 and its vote share dropped to 17 per cent from 21 per cent in the 2002 elections.

This probably in the last Parliamentary Party meeting as the Budget Session is likely to conclude tomorrow instead of May 22 as originally scheduled.

BJP Parliamentary Party Spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra, answering questions about the news reports mentioning the United States patenting yoga, said it was a serious issue and the Government of India should take it up with its US counterpart and foil the designs to loot and divest India of its traditional knowledge acquired over centuries by sages and there was no dispute about yoga's origins.

BJP would raise the issue in Parliament, he added.