NEW DELHI: Ignoring the clamor in the party to affix blame for the poll debacle, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh yesterday said no individual could be singled out for it but took on himself the onus for the defeat.

“The people’s verdict in the election was not according to our expectations, but I take blame for the poor results. But it is not right to say that is a nationwide defeat,” Rajnath said in his opening remarks at the party’s crucial two-day national executive - its first meeting after the Lok Sabha poll results.

“Success is a collective credit and failure is a collective responsibility,” Rajnath said. “Therefore, we must collectively find out the solution. Yes, if anyone feels that any person should take the responsibility, then as the president of the party, I am willing to take this responsibility,” Rajnath said.

Dismissing prospects of BJP moving away from its extremist wing, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and its reliance on Hindutva, Rajnath said that the party would not compromise on ideology.

Rejecting the notions that BJP’s policies based on feelings of staunch nationalism are faulty, Rajnath declared Hindutva as “national essence of India,” which has been “eternal, liberal and tolerant.”

“We do not regret the issues we have raised. These issues whether communal reservation, communal budgeting or soft approach to terrorism were all in national interest,” he said.

Deflecting criticism against the party’s key poll strategist Arun Jaitley, who was absent from the crucial meet as he is vacationing abroad, Rajnath said: “The BJP believes in collective responsibility for victory and defeat, and there is no need to single out one person for the poor showing.”

His tacit reference was to party seniors, including Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, who have all called for fixing the blame for the poor poll results. They have held Jaitley, though not directly, responsible for the debacle since he was the party’s chief poll manager. The BJP came crashing down to 116 seats from the 138 it won in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Rajnath said in the BJP, success and failure were collectively shared. He then added: “Yes, if anyone feels that any person should take the responsibility, then as the president of the party, I am willing to take this responsibility.”