Bhubaneswar, Sept. 27: Rattled by the drubbing they received in the recently-concluded civic polls, BJP and Congress — the two main Opposition parties of Odisha — have set about the task of identifying dissident elements and warning them.

Senior BJP leaders today engaged in a marathon brainstorming session at the party office here analysing the civic poll results.

The party, which had put up candidates in 703 of 1,147 wards in 66 urban local bodies that went to the polls on September 19, could manage to win in only 51 wards.

Odisha BJP spokesperson Suresh Pujari admitted that several external as well as internal factors were responsible for the party’s debacle, but he tried to put up a brave front asserting that results of the civic polls would not have any impact on the party’s prospects in the 2014 Assembly elections.

“We will find remedies to our problems and contest the next Assembly and Lok Sabha elections with renewed vigour,” said Pujari, while dropping hints that the issue of dissidence and possible sabotage during the civic polls was also discussed at the meeting that lasted for more than five hours.

Though the party leadership refrained from taking names, it issued a stern warning to elements indulging in acts of indiscipline.

Significantly, BJP national vice-president and former Union minister Jual Oram was conspicuous by his absence at today’s meeting.

On the other hand, state Congress president Jaydev Jena today met All-India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Delhi and discussed the party’s civic polls performance with him.

“He (Rahul) has assured me that indiscipline will not be tolerated,” was the only comment Jena following the meeting. AICC secretary in charge of Odisha Shubhankar Sarkar also issued a stern warning to party rebels while reiterating that Jena had been given full powers by the central leadership to act against dissidents.