The BJP Monday rejected the view that the Gujarat riots were the prime cause for the National Democratic Alliance's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections.
"The violence in Gujarat was not responsible for our performance and the results don't reflect it," BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters, claiming that "about 12 per cent of the Muslim electorate in the country, including 20 per cent of the Muslims in Gujarat voted for us."
Some NDA allies, including the Nationalist Trinamool Congress and Telugu Desam Party, have suggested that the violence in Gujarat may have influenced the poll verdict.
He said while the party was analysing the results state-wise, it appeared weak organization and some local issues had tilted the balance against the alliance. Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Shahnawaz Hussein had also claimed the Congress used the Gujarat issue to good effect in the elections.
Naqvi declined to comment on Hussein's remarks.