The BJP has asked its lok Sabha candidates who lost their elections to return to their constituencies and work with a fresh focus to win over those who “this time” did not vote for them. “lakhs of voters have voted for you and it reflects your support in the constituency,” they were told and encouraged to move on and rededicate themselves in their constituency.
The meeting which was held in the party office was addressed by BJP president Rajnath Singh. The BJP candidates were asked to facilitate implementation of Government's policies and programmes in their constituencies and create awareness about the various steps being taken by the Modi-Government for the people.
They were asked not to be disappointed by their electoral defeats as victory and defeats were part of the game. “Dil laga kar kam kijiye,” was the advise from the senior leaders.
Besides Singh, national general secretary JP Nadda and Union Minister Ananth Kumar also participated in the discussions. BJP fielded 427 candidates of which 282/543 won their elections, the largest being in Uttar Pradesh where it scored 71 out of 80 lok Sabha seats and together with NDA a total of 73 seats. NDA contested a total of 542 seats and won 336 seats. In UP BJP could even win Muslim dominated seats of Rampur and Moradabad.
In the 2014 general elections, 7,502 of the 8,748 candidates contesting candidates lost their deposits (registering less than one sixth of total valid votes). The BJP candidates lost their deposits in 62 constituencies while the Congress lost their deposits in 179 constituencies.