Indeed, those differences have been aired quite openly and brazenly. Its former president and prime ministerial candidate, Lal Krishna Advani, led the list of those who chose to stay away from Goa; he has made no secret of his belief that Mr Modi is not the right candidate. The popularity of Mr Modi with his party's rank and file, as someone who can win the next general election, was demonstrated when the hero of the Rath Yatra discovered that some of his own party members had gathered in front of his house to heckle him for his opposition to Mr Modi. That the Goa meeting, and the entire BJP narrative, should have been taken up with this power struggle is unfortunate for the party; it has lost an opportunity to showcase the performance of its many successful chief ministers, which would have helped it make a more convincing claim to form the next government. Instead, voters have been treated to an unseemly leadership battle in full public view, something that could and should have been internally resolved, or at least with greater decorum and transparency.
Mr Modi, therefore, will have to continue to tread carefully. His opponents in the party are in retreat, not vanquished. They may maintain silence now, but that does not mean their opposition will melt away - especially if the party's performance in the election is not good. It is possible that the BJP will deliberately try to remain ambiguous about Mr Modi's position, pushing him forward as the party's face to enthuse its base while maintaining deniability about actually choosing such a divisive figure to its allies and to undecided voters. This strategy may or may not work. But Mr Modi will have his work cut out in the next few months; before he could be accepted as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, he has to ensure that the party does well in the next general election.