New Delhi, May 17
The day after LK Advani and his party, the BJP, were defeated in the general election, Advani baiting has started within the BJP in the RSS and even by allies in the NDA.

The BJP parliamentry board may have rejected yesterday Advani’s suggestion of opting out of the race for Leader of Opposition but senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi took up the issue again today and simultaneously threw his hat in the ring.

Joshi inside the BJP and NDA’s acting convener, Sharad Yadav, separately found fault with the NDA/BJP strategy and campaign.

Joshi is widely perceived to belong to the anti-Advani camp, though in December 2007 he was one of the first to enthusiastically endorse Advani’s prime ministerial candidature and fully cooperated with the official camp.

Today, however, Joshi stressed before the media the need for the party to sit and deliberate on the reasons behind the defeat. He told newsmen waiting outside his 6, Raisina Marg residence that the party should sit and frankly and honestly discuss, “Why we lost.

Elaborating further Joshi said, “We have to introspect who were the people whom the party gave tickets to contest elections. We should also review whether our campaign machinery was successful enough to convey the party’s message to the voters.”

Advani had created a War Room at his trusted general secretary Ananth Kumar’s Tughlak Road residence. And the campaign was handled exclusively by Advani’s closest confidants including his personal secretary Deepak Chopra, Advani’s political secretary Sudheendra Kulkarni, Another Advani man Balbir Punj, his trusted group of journalists, Swapan Dasgupta, Chandan Mitra, Ashok Malik and former IB chief Ajit Doval were all there.

In sharp contrast to the parliamentary board’s line of thinking, urging Advani to continue as Leader of Opposition, Joshi said, “This is an issue all leaders will have to sit and discuss.” He also discreetly threw his hat in the ring, saying in reply to a question, “I am willing to take up any responsibility the party assigns me.”

Soon after Joshi’s interaction with the media, several party leaders, considered close to Advani, started trooping to his Prithviraj Road residence, to reassure him of their continued support. The visitors included Arun Jaitley and Arun Shourie and BJP president Rajnath Singh.

But problems do not end with Joshi alone.

Earlier in the day senior RSS leaders Bhayya Joshi and Madan Das Devi met Advani at his residence. On the way out, they announced that the Sangh had decided to constitute a three-member committee to study the BJP debacle.

The RSS has long been uneasy with the Advani style of campaign. Way back in January this year when Advani had invited Sangh leader and now their chief Mohanrao Bhagwat, he had told Advani to revert to the Hindutva agenda notwithstanding the pressure from the secular partners of the NDA.

With Advani and the BJP having lost in the elections, it is widely believed that the RSS will be in a better position to guide the BJP. In any case Rajnath Singh is considered closer to the Sangh line.

But from the opposite end Sharad Yadav fired a counter, blaming the BJP for overplaying the Hindutva card.

Sharad held the hate speech of their Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi and projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as future prime ministerial candidate responsible for major electroral damage.

Speaking to reporters here today, Yadav said, “It may be right or wrong or he (Varun) might have denied but his statement has caused immense damage. His statement was unconstitutional. It was against the country's unity and must have affected the poll.”

He also criticised the earlier statements of BJP leaders Arun Shourie and Arun Jaitley projecting Narendra Modi as BJP’s future prime ministerial candidate and said, “It was a factor. Since the NDA had already declared a prime ministerial candidate (LK Advani) unanimously, the issue should have been dismissed immediately,” he said.