New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on October 10 declined to join issues with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of electoral setback suffered by the BJP-Jammu State Morcha alliance in Jammu and Kashmir but said both parties should equally share the blame.

"We do not want to join issues with BJP president Venkaiah Naidu nor do we want to blame the BJP for the poor performance. But any electoral loss has to be shared equally," RSS joint spokesman Ram Madhav said.

He was responding to a question on Naidu's charge that the RSS-backed Morcha had violated the arrangement and the subsequent division of votes affected the party.

Madhav said out of the nine seats the Morcha contested, there were BJP rebels in three of them.

While the Morcha, an amalgam of several small parties, had contested the polls on the plank of statehood for Jammu, the BJP opposed the demand but supported more devolution of powers to the region.

The Morcha could manage to win only one seat.

Hectic parleys involving top BJP and RSS brass had preceded the electoral alliance.

PTI