Bengaluru, May 4 -- Karnataka BJP President Vijayendra Yediyurappa on Monday openly acknowledged that the party had "not expected" defeat in the high-stakes Bagalkot bypoll, even as he projected the BJP's victories in West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry as a major endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party's national leadership.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters Jagannath Bhavan here, Vijayendra described the results in the three states as a "big political message" and said they had infused fresh strength into Modi's leadership at the national level.
"The BJP's victory in West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry has strengthened Modiji's leadership. This was also the first election under our national presid...