New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani today (June 11, 2004) said there was need for deep introspection over the electoral verdict in Lok Sabha and to take steps to remove the "shortcomings" in the party organisation and the conduct of its functionaries.

Addressing the first meeting of the newly constituted central office bearers of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) by party President M Venkaiah Naidu after its electoral debacle, he said there was need to "rededicate" to the ideals of the party.

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Also necessary and sustained steps were needed for "overcoming the shortcomings that have crept into the party organisation and the conduct of its functionaries," Advani said.

He said there was need to ensure that the conduct of party MPs be such that "they are able to win peoples hearts through their manners," party spokesman and Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi quoted Advani as saying.

However, he felt there was no need to feel despondent over the electoral outcome but that "we should rather focus on the tasks ahead and resolve to succeed in them."

Advani said the immediate priority of the party is to prepare for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

"Our opponents are misinterpreting the verdict of the people. It is true that we have not got the people's mandate. At the same time, no single party or coalition has got a clear mandate either. We must expose the Congress party's attempts to project the verdict as a mandate for itself and for its President Sonia Gandhi," he said.