In an attempted reply to the criticism by senior party leaders, BJP chief Amit Shah said that Jana Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh had set an example in politics by retiring at the age of 60 on Saturday.

He suggested that it was ideal for politicians to concentrate on social work after a certain age.

Recently, the party’s  oldguards including the likes of L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and  Shanta Kumar who are currently side-lined within the party by Amit Shah- Narendra Modi duo since the latter became the PM in 2014 Lok Sabha elections questioned the credibility of Shah’s leadership and asked for his removal from the president’s post.

Shah who was the main man behind the party’s election strategy in recent Bihar assembly elections was in the path of a scathing attack by BJP veterans after the Bihar debacle.

The BJP managed a little more than half of their previous tally in 2010 elections winning 53 seats out of the total 243 seat even after the Modi-Shah duo hosted around a score of rallies each.     

This is the second setback for Shah who is due to hold his position of party president after the disastrous Delhi elections, where the BJP only managed 3 out of the total 70 seats after gaining power at the centre in 2014.