New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs have formally elected Lal Krishna Advani as their leader in the Lok Sabha, but failed to elect his deputy - somebody who could succeed him as Leader of the Opposition as and when he steps down.
Nor has the BJP parliamentary party elected their leader in the Rajya Sabha.
Both are key posts and being seen as indicators of how and to whom in GenNext, the BJP intends to entrust the leadership of the party.
The BJP parliamentary party met for the first time on Sunday, on the eve of the opening of Parliament.
While there was much talk on the need to introspect on their defeat in the general elections, Advani has been left with the task of effectively selecting his successor as Leader of the Opposition.
Significantly, there is no time frame set for Advani to select the two leaders, therefore, it may happen quite soon or much later.
Sushma Swaraj is believed to be the frontrunner as Advani's deputy in the Lok Sabha while Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu are among the contenders to lead BJP in Rajya Sabha.
"Deputy Leader of Opposition and leader, deputy for Rajya Sabha needs to be elected. Parliamentary Party's executive also needs to be formed. To shorten the whole process, Rajnath Singh suggested L K Advani should be given the powers to nominate people for all these positions. This was supported by everyone," said Sushma.
Newly elected BJP MPs were scheduled to meet on Sunday to formally elect L K Advani as the Leader of Opposition.
As the first session of the 15th Lok Sabha begins on Monday, the party's strategy for the Parliament session were also discussed at the meeting.
The frontrunners for the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha are Arun Jaitley and M Venkaiah Naidu.
The BJP has 116 members in the new Lok Sabha.
In the long run, the BJP's roadmap for change is now fairly clear. It is towards the end of the year when L K advani will step down as Leader of Opposition and is most likely to be replaced by Sushma Swaraj.
Around the same time, the BJP will elect a new president. Party president Rajnath Singh has already indicated he wants to step down.