New Delhi, May 13: Admitting that BJP's electoral strategy was wrong, its senior leader Pramod Mahajan today said "Congress has learnt the lesson of BJP" in forging alliance with regional parties after its defeat in three states six months ago and emerged winner in Lok Sabha poll.
"I think, they exactly followed the same strategy of BJP to consolidate the coalition and give scope to the regional parties," Mahajan said.

He said the Congress went for alliance with TRS, Dravidian parties. In Bihar, it agreed to a pre-poll pact with RJD and Lok Janshakthi Party taking only four out of 40 seats. It tried its level best in Uttar Pradesh and also had an alliance with Sharad Pawar's NCP.
BJP went wrong when it lost 60 seats in two states-- Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, he said. With the party performing badly in Gujarat and UP, "there are no chance."

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In fact, he said the NDA had never expected more than 250 seats. "We never thought that we will be the single largest party or the single largest coalition," he added.

Referring to BJP's dialogue with NCP, he said "the seats he (Sharad Pawar) wanted, we could not give it. The problem was not with Lok Sabha elections but with the assembly polls."
On MDMK parting ways with NDA, Mahajan said MDMK leader Vaiko was one of the biggest supporter of Vajpayee but on the issue of POTA "when we could not protect him (Vaiko). They might have come to the conclusion looking at the local politics that NDA can't help."

Referring to the setting up of POTA review committee, he said if it had been set up earlier, the situation could have been different. Bureau Report