Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Lal Kishenchand Advani on Friday said there was need for deep introspection over the electoral verdict in Lok Sabha and to take steps to remove the "shortcomings" in the party organisation and the conduct of its functionaries.

Addressing the first meeting of the newly constituted Central Office Bearers of the BJP by party chief M Venkaiah Naidu after its electoral debacle, he said there was need to 'rededicate' to the ideals of the party.

"Also necessary and sustained steps were needed for overcoming the shortcomings that have crept into the party organisation and the conduct of its functionaries," Advani said.

He said there was need to ensure that the conduct of party MPs be such that 'they are able to win peoples hearts  through their manners', party spokesman and vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi quoted Advani as saying.

However, he felt there was no need to feel despondent over the electoral outcome but that 'we should rather focus on the tasks ahead and resolve to succeed in them'.

Advani said the immediate priority of the party is to prepare for the forthcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

"Our opponents are misinterpreting the verdict of the people. It is true that we have not got the people's mandate. At the same time, no single party or coalition has got a  clear mandate either. We must expose the Congress party's attempts to project the verdict as a mandate for itself and for its chief Sonia Gandhi," he said.

In his address, Naidu said, "There is a need to keep vigil on the functioning of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as it was full of contradictions and it seems we (BJP-led NDA) would not stay in opposition for five years."

"After the fractured verdict, we decided to sit in the opposition. But, the current government may not be able to provide a stable government," Naqvi quoted the party chief as saying.

He said meeting attended among others by former ministers Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Jaitley and party general secretary Pramod Mahajan. The meeting also discussed the need to keep a close watch on those states where the party did not do too well in the Lok Sabha polls.

Naidu said all party cadres should vow to strengthen the organisation to enable it to march to victory in the coming days and specially in the coming assembly elections.