The elders have spoken. Two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party suffered a drubbing in the Bihar assembly elections, four of its "elder statesmen" came out of the shadows and made their feelings known.

A five-paragraph statement signed by LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha appeared in the media, blaming the defeat on party president Amit Shah, without actually naming him. It said the Bihar defeat evidenced the saffron party's emasculation over the last year. All the signatories of the letter had been sidelined when Shah and Modi took the reins of the party in 2014.

The letter came as an early Diwali gift for the self-styled gagsters on Twitter. Intolerance was the buzzword, as many wondered whether actor Anupam Kher, the spearhead of 'March for India' last week, would now lead a march to Advani's house.

 

 

 

 

For many, this was an opportunity to make jokes about age and question how a letter dated November 11 could be released a day earlier.

 

 

 

BJP leader Giriraj Singh's comments that critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi should go to Pakistan led people to suggest the same course of action for Advani and company.

 

Meanwhile, the prime minister was praised for his abilities to unite long-time rivals Advani and Joshi.