Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday strongly defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, saying they alone cannot be held responsible for the defeat in the Bihar elections. The BJP leader said it was a collective responsibility of all party office bearers and leaders. He also demanded stringent action against those making "irresponsible statements" against Modi and Shah, and "causing damage to the party's image".

Gadkari also questioned why people ask for a review only when the party is defeated, but not when it wins. His comments came a day after BJP veterans LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar had issued a statement demanding a thorough review of the Bihar rout. They said that the Bihar results show that the party has not learnt any lesson from its defeat in the Delhi polls earlier this year, adding that "the party has been emasculated in the last year". Gadkari said that the party's leadership "will talk to Advaniji on the issue".