New Delhi: A day after crediting UPA (United Progressive Alliance) chairperson Sonia Gandhi with the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party)-Congress victory in the Maharashtra polls, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Sushma Swaraj today (Oct 17, 2004) backtracked on her statement saying it had been distorted by the media.

Yesterday in her reaction to the poll results, she had told a TV channel that credit should also go to Sonia as she was the president of the Congress party and it was winning.

"The game is over for us," she had said when asked whether BJP was accepting the trends which showed Congress-NCP alliance retaining power in the State.

However, today she termed the statements attributed to her as false and said the Congress had given its worst ever performance in the State.

Man-of-the-match in the just concluded elections was Sharad Pawar and not Sonia Gandhi, Swaraj who is BJP's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha said.

She said Sonia Gandhi's leadership was not an issue in the Maharashtra elections which were fought on local issues and added that the Congress party's tally was the lowest ever in the electoral history of Maharashtra.

"In the 1999 elections, Congress won 75 seats on its own and this time, it had won only 68 seats in alliance with the NCP," she said.

"Nobody in the country expects me to say what was reported in the Press," she added.