After BJP's Poll Success, This Modi Critic Does A One-Eighty, In Writing

New Delhi: After a big win in Assam and heartening debut in Kerala and West Bengal, the BJP's celebrations today were spiced up by a letter that marked a retreat by one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's critics.

The letter was from senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi to PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, congratulating them for the party's "historic success".

The brief note was seen as closest to capitulation from the Margdarshak Mandal, the group of mentors who had criticized PM Modi and Amit Shah after the Bihar debacle last year.
 "The strategy and workers' hard work has brought a revolutionary change in the country's politics. For the first time the BJP has established a strong presence from Kanya Kumari to Kashmir and Dwarka (Gujarat) to Kamrup (Assam). Workers in other states where elections are due, especially Uttar Pradesh, will be inspired by this victory," Mr Joshi wrote in separate letters to PM Modi and Mr Shah.

Last year, Mr Joshi and others in the group - LK Advani, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Ram - went public with their critique of the big two after the party lost in Bihar in November.

The veterans demanded that accountability be fixed for the defeat, which was seen as a direct attack on PM Modi and Amit Shah, who led the Bihar election strategy and campaign.
 They had even alleged that "the party has been emasculated in the last year," and is being "forced to kowtow to a handful."

The seniors have been sidelined in the party since it came to power at the Centre in 2014.

In a measured response to the outburst, the BJP did not take any action against the leaders.

"If our seniors feel that there has to be an assessment then it will be considered," said the party's Ram Madhav at the time.