New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on March 2 attributed "organisational shortcomings" and infighting in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Himachal unit for the party's defeat in the recent state Assembly elections in four states.

"We should have fought unitedly. The people were angry with us and this was evident from the kind of response there was at the election meetings. Had we fought unitedly the results would have been different," Vajpayee said at a meeting of party leaders to analyse its poll performance, specially in Himachal Pradesh.

He said the lack of enthusiasm among crowds at the election meetings in Himachal Pradesh showed that "the infighting message had reached down to the grassroot level" and this was a major cause of the party's poll debacle in the state.

PTI