The Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary board will meet in New Delhi on Friday to discuss the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha election and the post-poll scenario.

The party, which projected Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the National Democratic Alliance's mascot during the poll campaign, is expected to insist on his becoming the leader of the opposition.

Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, party president M Venkaiah Naidu and Union minister Murli Manohar Joshi are expected to attend the meeting at Vajpayee's residence.

Party general secretaries Pramod Mahajan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Sanjay Joshi will also be there.

Speculation is rife that Naidu and Mahajan may offer their resignations owning moral responsibility for the debacle. But Vajpayee is understood to have praised their hard work at a meeting of the party's leaders on Thursday and advised them to continue, sources said.

The party is also expected to analyse the reasons for the debacle, including the timing of the election and the 'India Shining'.