New Delhi:
LK Advani, the BJP's veteran leader, did not credit the party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, for the BJP's strong showing in the recent state elections.
When asked about Mr Modi's role, the 86-year-old said, "It is a contribution of all party members, particularly chief ministers". He was talking to reporters at Parliament.
Earlier this year, Mr Advani unsuccessfully urged his party not to pick Mr Modi, the 64-year-old chief minister of Gujarat, as its candidate for the country's top job.
The BJP won landslide victories in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, was re-elected in Chhattisgarh, and emerged as the largest party in Delhi, though it was stopped from grabbing a clear majority by Arvind Kejriwal's new Aam Aadmi Party.
BJP leaders have said the success in the state elections was powered partly by the energetic campaigning of Mr Modi, who addressed nearly a hundred rallies.
But analysts and other parties say that the results were as much a vote of no-confidence in the ruling Congress at the centre, as a vote of confidence in Mr Modi.
So in states, the Congress was affected by a strong anti-incumbency sentiment against the central government, which has been engulfed with corruption scandals and has failed to stymie stubborn inflation.