Loud and unapologetic - Narendra Modi - the star campaigner of the BJP seems to be in retreat after his party's poor showing in the recent general elections.

On May 16th, when the Lok Sabha election results revealed a resounding mandate for the Congress, the loudest campaigner of the BJP was nowhere to be seen.

Narendra Modi emerged a full day later, proclaiming there were no full stops in politics. Ever since then, Modi has been in damage control mode - not touching politics - but drumming up his favourite topic i.e. Development.

The only time he accepted defeat was when L K Advani visited Ahmedabad. But even then the defeat was only for the party as Modi refused to accept his image has been dented.

The Gujarat CM even compared himself to Sachin Tendulkar before party workers.

“I am the only politician who is being criticized on the parameters of expectations. Its like in Cricket, people don’t have expectations from everyone. But if Sachin Tendulkar scores less, people are disappointed," said Narendra Modi.

"I welcome such critics. I am glad people have great expectations from me.”

Alongwith the blow to his image, Modi is facing other challenges too. Analysts say the opposition within  the party is only going to get stiffer for him.

Political Analyst Achyut Yagnik is of the opinion that the competition between the second rung leaders in the BJP like Rajnath Singh and Venkiah Naidu, will not allow Modi to emerge as a national head.

Analysts propound that for the next five years Modi will most likely remain stuck in Gujarat.

Till such a time, Modi continues to enjoy an undisputed sway over Gujarat. And as proved so many times before, Narendra Modi can turn adversity into opportunity to come out a winner.