Pune: BJP (Bharatiya Janata party) General Secretary Pramod Mahajan today (Aug 2, 2004) said it was the "overconfidence of the leaders and the lethargy" of party workers that resulted in party's defeat at the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing the students of Ranade Institute of Journalism at a function organised at Patrakar Bhavan in Pune, Mahajan said this was the main reason for the defeat and added that it made the party introspect and take corrective measures.

Talking to them in Marathi, in a speech laced with humour he also narrated how the 'India Shining' campaign of the party had failed.

"We were fools to tell people what we have done for them and asking them receipt in the form of votes. Instead, had we highlighted prospective benefits then we would have been more successful," Mahajan added.

Besides he said the 'India Shining' campaign was not actually the campaign of BJP but that of Government of India which was coined to tell the world about India's achievements and attract Foreign Direct Investments.

"However, it did not go well with the voters as it was human nature that people were never satisfied with whatever has been done to them. Hence the focus of the campaign should have been the prospective benefit," he added.