Jaitley denies existence of BJP internal report

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday denied existence or the tabling of any internal report prepared by Bal Apte at the three-day Chintan Baithak (brainstorming session) on reasons for the party's debacle in this year's general election. He also justified the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the party.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday denied existence or the tabling of any internal report prepared by Bal Apte at the three-day Chintan Baithak (brainstorming session) on reasons for the party's debacle in this year's general election. He also justified the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the party.

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Addressing a press conference here on the second day of the Chintan Baithak, Jaitley said: "No such report has been introduced or tabled at the Chintan Baithak. There is no Bal Apte report or a report of this nature by any BJP leader."

Jaitley's reaction was in response to a TV channel revelation that it had access to an internal report that squarely indicts and blames senior party leader L K Advani, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Jaitley as chief election manager for the BJP's poll debacle.

According to a TV channel, the report says the election loss has been attributed to a perceived lack of unity among the party leadership and the BJP's failure to advertise and market its agenda among the people.

The report also says the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate by certain sections of the party and the personal attack on the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh (which did not go down well with the people), were other key factors contributing to the defeat.