Advani, who was BJP's prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha polls, also advised them to check every document before putting their signatures.

Warning that these were critical times when individuals and political parties were looking for opportunities to 'show each other down', he asked MPs to thoroughly check the background of their private secretaries.

BJP second leaders have been locked in an ugly war, criticising one another publicly, ever since the party won only 116 seats in this general election -- far below the 138 it got in 2004 and much below what it thought it could win this time.

Since then, some party leaders have privately blamed Advani's leadership and the absence of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the poor showing.

Other second rung leaders have blamed one another, shocking members and supporters of the supposedly regimented BJP.

Some in the BJP feel that Advani's latest comments seek to reiterate his authority over the country's second largest political party.