New Delhi: In his first public comments on the shock defeat of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in the Lok Sabha elections, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said today (June 1, 2004) that "complacency" and "overconfidence" could be among the causes for the debacle but ruled out Gujarat violence had anything to do with it.

"Overconfidence could be one of the causes of the defeat," he told reporters after the first meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Party, which elected L K Advani as its leader and him as Chairman.

"Defeat is an issue for which reasons would have to be found though it has no link to violence," Vajpayee said replying to a question whether violence in Gujarat was one of the causes for the debacle.

Vajpayee, who addressed the MPs said another factor responsible for the setback was "failure to identify the rival."

"While in the battle field, the enemy is always identified, it was not so in this case," he said apparently referring to one of the party's campaign planks "Vajpayee versus question mark."

Speaking at the first meeting of the BJP Parliamentary party on the eve of the 14th Lok Sabha's opening session starting tomorrow, Vajpayee said 90 sitting MPs of the party had lost the election while there were others, who had served five to six terms have been returned. This showed that "there was need for the newcomers to learn lessons from this."