Soul-searching for Modi after crushing poll defeat in Bihar

New Delhi

INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of his party on Monday to discuss whether to overhaul policies and priorities in the wake of a humiliating defeat in elections in the eastern state of Bihar.

Mr Modi and a dozen senior colleagues of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including its president Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, gathered at the party's offices to analyse the reasons for the defeat.

"There are lessons to be learnt," Mr Jaitley told reporters after the meeting, without outlining specifics. "In elections you win some and lose some."

Sunday's loss in Bihar, India's third most populous and poorest state, is the most significant setback f…