All is not well in India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with barely a year to go for the general elections.

BJP's seniormost leader L.K. Advani has skipped the party's ongoing conclave in the western state of Goa apparently to express his opposition to making the controversial Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, the saffron outfit's campaign chief for the general elections slated for next year.

Though 85-year-old Advani, a former Indian Deputy Prime Minister, has cited "health grounds" for not attending the three- day meet, sources said that the veteran leader was opposed to Modi being made the sole campaign chief which would by default present him as the face of BJP for 2014 polls.

This has prompted protests outside his official residence in the Indian capital this morning by "Modi's supporters" who demanded that Advani should step aside to make way for Modi as the BJP's potential prime ministerial candidate for next year's general elections.

"We want Advani to step aside and let Modi come forward. Advani should have announced Modi's candidature for prime ministership in Goa but he did not do that," a protester told local TV channels.

Not only Advani, some other leaders close to the BJP patriarch, including former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and former BJP Chief Minister of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, Uma Bharti, have also said they are too unwell to travel to Goa to attend the party's national executive meet.

However, the party has brushed aside reports of any rift in BJP over Modi's candidature as poll panel chief. "Advani is unwell. Doctors have advised him rest. So, he is not attending the party meet," BJP President Rajnath Singh, said to be close to Modi, told the media in Goa.

Experts say that Advani is opposed to Modi being appointed as the BJP's potential prime ministerial candidate for 2014 polls as he feels it will only give ammunition to India's scam-tainted ruling Congress party to shift the headline of the general elections away from the corruption scandals to the Gujarat Chief Minister's alleged "communal" figure.

Modi is accused of not doing enough to stop the communal riots of 2002 in Gujarat during his first term as Chief Minister, in which hundreds of Muslims were killed by Hindu fundamentalists. However, the charge against Modi has not been proven in court yet.

"This is a civil war within BJP between the Advani camp and the Modi camp. While Advani camp believes the controversial Gujarat leader may spoil the party's chance of dethroning the Congress in 2014 polls, the Modi camp says that he is the one who can help the party win given his track record of winning three consecutive assembly elections in Gujarat," political analyst Prof Ajay Sharma said.