A day after Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh called the Uttar Pradesh debacle an opportunity to be 'more alert and stable', party veteran L K Advani said on Tuesday that the election results were a matter of serious concern.
In his address to the BJP's national executive, the former deputy prime minister suggested the party was required to set up different committees on a variety of programmes to prepare itself for the 2009 general elections, party sources said.
His comments followed Singh's remarks to the conclave on Monday that the BJP's success in a Uttar Pradesh assembly by-election barely 15 days after the state polls showed that the party's support base does exist in every village.
In an apparent reference to the BJP's eroding support base among Brahmins, Advani suggested the causes of the defeat in Uttar Pradesh be analysed.
He said the outcome of Goa elections cannot be compared to that of Uttar Pradesh, according to party sources.
On Monday, a top BJP leader pointed to the party chief that the silence of former chief minister Kalyan Singh during reporting on Uttar Pradesh was a matter of concern.
Kalyan Singh the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, did not speak at all as the party took stock of its performance in the key state.
Many in the BJP are privately accusing the party chief of botching-up the saffron campaign and of flawed candidate selection.
In his address, Advani also spoke about the presidential elections, saying the UPA-Left should withdraw its candidate Pratibha Patil in the light of allegations against her.