A search has begun in the BJP for “youthful leaders” for its Uttar Pradesh unit ahead of the 2014 general elections.

While former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is claiming support of 62 of the 120 MLAs of the BJP in Karnataka, a section of senior leaders claimed that there were only “a dozen MPs, who could remain loyal to him.”

The crisis for the BJP continued on both the Karnataka and Jharkhand fronts on Wednesday. Former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa reached New Delhi on Wednesday evening to mount pressure on the party leadership for his reinstatement, while in Jharkhand Anshuman Mishra, the controversial Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha supported by the BJP, was forced to withdraw his nomination following a diktat by party chief Nitin Gadkari.

The BJP is in a dilemma as whether to act or not against its leaders who “sabotaged” its poll prospects in Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand saw a close contest, with the Congress acquiring a wafer thin one-seat lead over the BJP in the closely-fought Assembly elections. The Congress won 32 seats, four short of majority in the 70-member House with the ruling BJP following closely with 31 seats.

In a major snub to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari on Friday lauded his bete noire Sanjay Joshi for his “good work” in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. He also indicated that Mr Modi’s absence in the poll campaigns, including in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, did not affect the BJP’s prospects.

The BJP’s Madhya Pradesh unit, led by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is lobbying for Uma Bharti to be given an important post in the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit to keep her away from her home state. Both Mr Chouhan and Ms Bharti are considered as sworn rivals. The saffron sanyasin, who is also former Madhya Pradesh CM, was reinducted in the BJP in 2011.

Perturbed over growing factional fights among the BJP-ruled states, the big brother of sangh parivar, the RSS, has decided to stage an urgent intervention.

In Goa, the BJP is banking on anti-incumbency and corruption charges against the ruling Congress to bring itself back to power. The party is also highlighting the “dynastic politics” of the Congress in its poll campaigns. In its poll manifesto, BJP has not only promised regulation of legal mining and reviewing of the industrial policy, it has also promised a monthly allowance for the unemployed.

In what could give more heartburn to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the BJP top brass is contemplating rehabilitating his bete noire and party’s former general secretary (organisation) Sanjay Joshi at the national level. Both the RSS and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, it is learnt, are in favour of Mr Joshi being given a key post at the central level.