An unprecedented turmoil has shaken up the BJP, which in May suffered a huge defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP's tally fell from 130 in the 2004 polls to 116 this year. The Lok Sabha has 543 elected members.

This was followed by senior leaders like Arun Shourie, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha criticising the party leadership and asking it to fix responsibility for the defeat.

The party suffered more trouble after it sacked Jaswant Singh for praising Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah in his controversial book - 'Jinnah: India-Partition, Independence'.

Singh's expulsion was questioned by senior party leaders like Sinha and Shourie who even called the BJP a 'kati patang'(adrift kite). Former chief ministers Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan and B.C. Khanduri of Uttarakhand also denounced the party for forcing them out of their positions in their respective states.

Sacked from the party, Jaswant Singh told IANS that if the party wants to remain relevant in contemporary politics, it has to come out of its '19th century obsolete ideas'.

'The BJP should not come across as a 19th century organisation raising obsolete issues. In politics, perceptions are just as important if not more important than reality. Ram Setu and Babri Masjid are non-issues for people now,' he said.

Kanungo is of the view that the party ideologues 'have to change their view...they should be more futuristic' and not stick to history, which is of no relevance outside academic interests for youth.

'To appeal to youth that form a majority of India's population, the party needs to come up with ideas like better education, employment opportunities.

'Today's youth talk about future without caring about the burden of history,' he pointed out.

The party's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is now seen as playing a key role in helping rejuvenate the BJP. Asked by the RSS to oversee a transition in party leadership, Advani is set to launch a countrywide tour by Sep 15 to interact with cadres and search for young talent that can be inducted into the party, party sources said.