The commotion in the main opposition party began with the expulsion of senior leader and former cabinet minister Jaswant Singh for praising Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his recently released book.

After that, senior MP Arun Shourie lashed out at the party leadership and dubbed the BJP a 'kati patang' (a kite adrift).

The crisis in BJP has led the RSS, the party's ideological parent, to call for an end to infighting. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had earlier said that the BJP would 'rise from the ashes'.