New Delhi, Aug 11 - A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tuesday admitted that former cabinet ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie have been dropped from a key party meeting because of their criticism of the party leadership following the Lok Sabha election debacle.

'It is clear that the criteria to invite party leaders has been formed with the intention to drop these two (Sinha and Shourie) because they had criticised the party leadership,' the leader told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

Sinha and Shourie have not been called for the party's three-day 'Chintan Baithak' (brain-storming session) beginning in Shimla Aug 19.

Almost all other senior leaders have been invited, party sources said.

Invitations have been specifically sent out to all general secretaries, members of the core committee, all chief ministers and deputy chief ministers as well as leaders and deputy leaders of opposition in both houses of parliament. In all, 25 leaders have been asked to attend.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, who had said that accountability needed to be fixed for the party's debacle in the April-May ballot, could not conceal his hurt.

Sinha told IANS here: 'It is very simple. The criteria they have fixed for the Chintan Baithak, we (Shourie and I) don't fit in that criteria.'

But he quickly added that he didn't think the BJP had acted against them because of their public criticism following the election outcome. The BJP, which hoped to unseat the Congress, won only 116 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha.