New Delhi: LK Advani and the BJP senior leadership opened up on the party's debacle in the Bihar Assembly elections. Senior leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Yashwant Sinha jointly issued a statement on Tuesday strongly criticising the party's stand on its humiliating defeat in the Assembly elections in Bihar.

"The results of Bihar election show that no lesson has been learnt from fiasco in Delhi. To say everyone is responsible for defeat in Bihar is to ensure everyone is held responsible," they said.

"It shows those who would have appropriated credit are bent on shrugging off responsibilty for the disastrous showing in Bihar," the statement said.

"A principal reason for the latest defeat is the way the party has been emasculated in the last year. A thorough review needed for reasons for defeat," read the statement.

The Bihar mandate has been seen by many as a comment on the 18-month performance of the Narendra Modi government. But senior leaders of the BJP, including home minister Rajnath Singh, have said no blame can be pinned on the Prime Minister.

On Monday, after a meeting of its 12 top leaders -- including Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- to analyse the defeat, the BJP attributed it to its failure to gauge the effectiveness of the Grand Alliance.

Rajnath Singh said, "We couldn't understand the mood in the state. Social equations were against us in Bihar. I have addressed at least 50 rallies."

"We were wrong in thinking the Grand Alliance won't be able to consolidate votes due to other small and regional parties," Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had said.