Bharatiya Janata Party in turmoil after resignation of Lal Krishna Advani

The main opposition party in India was in disarray yesterday after its veteran leader, Lal Krishna Advani, resigned from top positions after the selection of a controversial figure to head its campaign at the next election.

The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been crippled by infighting among leaders, with several, including Advani, harbouring ambitions to be the next prime minister.

"For some time I have been finding it difficult to reconcile either with the current functioning of the party, or the direction in which it is going," Advani wrote in his surprise resignation letter.

On Sunday, senior party member Narendra Modi, long seen as a possible prime minister, was selected to head the opposition's campaign in the election, due by next May. Advani is widely seen as the biggest internal obstacle to Modi's ambition if the BJP were to win the polls.

But many within the BJP fear Modi is too divisive a figure and will polarise voters, further undercutting the BJP's weak electoral position in many states.

Party leaders rushed to Advani's house in a bid to change his mind, opening the possibility that he may only return to the leadership after extracting concessions. BJP president Rajnath Singh said he did not accept the resignation letter.

Modi is distrusted by India's large Muslim minority and others who say he did not do enough to stop religious riots in 2002 that killed at least 1,000 people - most of them Muslims - in the western state of Gujarat, where he is chief minister. Modi has denied any wrongdoing in the riots.