| NEW DELHI, MAY 13:
Beyond the walls, the BJP chased a majority, in vain, it seems. Within 11 Ashoka Road, the party’s national headquarters, however, the BJP was being desperately chased.By 10.30 am, as the results of the elections to the 14th Lok Sabha poured in, the BJP’s central office gradually cleared out, save some 200 journalists and TV cameramen, all of whom seemed to be after the same duo, Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley, for the stock sound bites to explain the defeat — ‘‘Local issues prevailed’’, ‘‘This is not a mandate on India Shining’’ or the occasional ‘‘With Sonia in power, the foreign origin issue will now be stronger than ever’’.
In the morning, Mahajan, Jaitley and BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi landed up early, just before 10 am, to get the show going. An hour and some interviews later, Naqvi disappeared. Mahajan joined Jaitley on interviews on TV channels, with strategic backdrops placed in front of the headquarters and in the backyard.
A little after 11 am, Sushma Swaraj arrived, sporting a mustard sari and dark glasses. V.K. Malhotra, the party’s lone winner from Delhi, landed up too, candidly telling journalists he was happy on his victory but wasn’t quite sure if the general mood was as upbeat. Soon, party veteran J.P. Mathur dropped in from his residence in the neighbourhood. Mathur, who has, no doubt, explained many defeats in his time, instead ambled across and made polite conversation with journalists.
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The headquarters, once packed with leaders, functionaries, workers and hangers-on on any given day, was quite desolate. Instead, there were journalists, crawling out of just about everywhere. ‘‘They’re so few BJP people around,’’ muttered a visitor, ‘‘the cameramen are probably photographing each other’’.
The few party workers who were around were quite dazed by the extent of the defeat. After the Andhra Pradesh results on May 11, a reversal was expected, especially in Tamil Nadu. That realisation, however, didn’t make things easier. ‘‘Kya Ram Naik bhi haar gaye? Govinda se...are Jagmohan ko to harna hi tha. Upar ki baat karta hai. Zameen ka aadmi nahin hai,’’ went the excuses for the blows.
A little after 12 noon, leaders whizzed off for a meeting at party president M. Venkaiah Naidu’s residence. Minutes ahead, Mahajan formally admitted defeat and said the BJP would sit in the Opposition. Stoically, he also accepted blame as the party general secretary and chief election manager.
Maybe it was the numbers, maybe it was the grim faces; the party office seemed to be suffering a particularly bad hangover. The Vajpayee and Advani posters and other poll-time banners were still there. The saffron, white and green balloons that had been put up for V-E (Victory in Election) were still in place. Everything was the same; everything had changed.
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