Strong demands for accountability for the Lok Sabha debacle were on Saturday voiced at the BJP National Executive meeting in which party President Rajnath Singh acknowledged a qualified responsibility on his part and announced a Committee to go into the defeat.

But the party chief as well as others made it clear there was no question of giving up Hindutva ideology or severing ties with RSS in the aftermath of the second successive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

Leaders like Arun Shourie and Jaswant Singh, who have been raising questions over the way the party was being run, raised the demand for a complete and thorough introspection into the debacle and not brushing aside of issues.

Shourie, in particular, was critical of party leader Arun Jaitley, whom he did not name, when he said that those responsible for the defeat have skipped the executive meeting, but would be doing the "chintan baithak" (brainstorming session) to be held after the Budget session of Parliament.

He also wondered why Rajnath Singh should take responsibility alone because there were others responsible for the defeat.

L K Advani, the party's failed Prime Ministerial candidate, was present throughout the day's deliberations, but will make his address tomorrow. Jaitley, the chief strategist in the election and blamed by many as one of those responsible for the defeat, was away vacationing in Europe.

Yashwant Sinha, who had last week attacked the party leadership, was also not present as he is no longer a member of the National Executive having resigned from all his party posts.

Jaswant Singh, who has been taking potshots at the leadership on rewarding of those responsible for failure with posts in parliamentary party, hinted that he may not contest elections and that he would not take any post.

Shourie also demanded an inquiry into how his letter to the party president was leaked to the media.

Acknowledging that Shourie demanded a mechanism for ensuring accountability, party spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that a three-member Committee has been set up, but did not divulge their names.

Another senior leader Vijay Goel said the party lost the elections due to internal strife and regretted that no accountability was being fixed for the defeat. He also said that no action is being taken against those responsible for the loss.

Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the party needs to have relook at alliance partners in the state, especially against the backdrop of the BJD ditching the party in Orissa at the last minute.

He is understood to have warned of a similar situation in Bihar where the BJP and JD-U share power. BJP leaders from the state fear that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar might break the alliance at the last minute and go it alone in the Assembly elections due in a year.

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Rajnath takes responsibility for BJP’s poll debacle [1]
BJP sets up panel to analyse electoral debacle [2]
Don't make Varun a scapegoat: Maneka [3]