Advani walks into sunset with a disappointing loss

New Delhi: Senior Bhartiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani is likely to quit the party, unconfirmed reports said.

With the BJP accepting the people"s mandate and its defeat, speculations are high in this regard.

However, party spokesman Arun Jaitely told a press conference this evening that no such step was being thought of as yet.

He further said that losing one election did not mean that a party would make wholesale changes in its leadership.

Earlier, TV channels quoted sources as saying that Advani was saddened by the electoral defeat in the elections and therefore,wanted to put in his papers.

Experts said that it was only a procedural step for the Leader of Opposition to resign before the formation of a new government.

Advani, who began his political career as a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is often credited with having made the BJP a formidable force in Indian politics.

A major factor going in favor of Advani was that he had always been the most powerful leader in the BJP with the exception of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had also endorsed Advani''s candidacy for the prime minister"s post

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangha (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has ordered a three member committee to look into the reason behind the BJP"s humiliating defeat in the elections.