Saturday, June 18 2005 19:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Pramod Mahajan has acknowledged the absence of "team spirit" in the party and attributed this to the "tussle for party president ship" among the second rung leaders.

Equating BJP with the Indian cricket team, he said the party's prospects will be adversely affected unless "every leader" conducted an introspection and worked as a team.

"It (internal strife amongst the second rung leaders) is like the Indian cricket team, where everyone strives to achieve personal milestones, even perform well, yet the team loses," Mahajan, one of the second rung leaders himself, told Aaj Tak news channel.

"I think when all of us, including myself, work as a team and the tussle for the party president ship ends, we will perform well," he said, according to a release issued by the channel in New Delhi.

He said, "We must understand that if the party grows, we will grow along with it and vice versa. What's the fun of leading a party which does not have any significance?"

Blaming media for raking up the controversies about power tussle in BJP, Mahajan, however, said the media "can do such a thing only if there is some issue."

He added the second rung leaders were a big source of strength to the party and that "during the recent crisis (created by BJP president L K Advani's resignation), despite differences, the second rung leaders had worked together towards solving the problem."