Outgoing Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Friday said that "wrong" distribution of party tickets was responsible for the BJP's setback in the assembly elections, which saw the Congress romping to a comfortable victory.
Without naming anyone Dhumal largely blamed the party's dismal performance in Kangra district for the defeat in the elections.
"Had we won seven out of the 15 seats, we would have won the elections," Dhumal told mediapersons here.
"There were some shortcomings in the ticket distribution," he said.
The BJP had announced its list of 55 candidates much in advance but delayed the list of the remaining 23 candidates, which mostly included the names of party candidates from Kangra.
"The delay in announcement of nominees sent out a wrong signal," Dhumal said without blaming arch rival Shanta Kumar for the party's defeat.
Dhumal did not blame the factionalism in the party for the debacle, saying "Every party has its own in-house problems. Infighting was the worst in the Congress," said Dhumal.