Patna, June 10: Education minister P.K. Shahi today claimed that he never blamed the BJP for his defeat in the Maharajganj bypoll.

Taking a complete U-turn from his reported statement after the poll results were declared on June 5, Shahi, the JD(U) candidate, accused the reporters of misquoting him.

“It was irresponsible journalism. They should have checked with me what I said instead of running a commentary. I never mentioned the BJP. I had said that some of my friends in the alliance were not enthusiastic by my presence in the poll ring because I could not enthuse them,” he told The Telegraph, adding that he took the responsibility of the defeat in Maharajganj and the party should look into the reasons behind the loss.

Shahi also trashed the allegation that he had left the counting centre after the second round of counting. “The truth is I remained there till the last round of counting. I left only after I ensured all my agents had left,” he said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar did not react to the minister’s claim but stressed that the vote percentage of the JD(U) had actually increased despite Singh, the party’s main leader in Saran, deserting the JD(U) and becoming the RJD candidate.