Calling for a change in guard at the party's helm, Parrikar, 54, said it would have to project a new youthful face with credibility.

'I am not against elders, but the BJP should give prominence to leaders who are between 40 and 60 years,' he said.

Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad refused to answer any queries on the interview. 'I don't know anything. I am not supposed to react to everything,' he told IANS and hung up the phone.

While Prakash Javadekar, another BJP spokesperson, said he was busy preparing for the Maharashtra assembly elections, when contacted, party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: 'I would not know about this; I was busy with Eid festivities.'

Advani, 81, was the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the April-May Lok Sabha elections. However, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regained power, leaving Advani to face the flak.

Soon after the election results, he announced his decision to step down as leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha but took up the position after a section of the party persuaded him - a move that led to more criticism from his detractors.

Advani, as president of the party, had taken the party's tally in the Lok Sabha from two in 1984 to 88 in 1989. During the NDA rule, he also rose to become deputy prime minister in the Vajpayee cabinet.