The knives are out in the Congress amid calls for "major surgery" to revive the organisation following a string of embarrassing electoral defeats, with questions being raised about the leadership abilities of the party's president-inwaiting, Rahul Gandhi.

While strategists ponder options to pull the 131-year old party out of the morass that it has been sinking in since it was decimated in the 2014 parliamentary polls, the so-called Team Rahul Gandhi is still waiting in the wings.

In party circles, the term Team RG is used to describe over 600 young leaders who have been picked through a corporate-style recruitment process but have no clue when they will get their jobs.

Over the past year, Rahul personally interviewed these leaders who, sources said, would be given key roles whenever the Congress vice-president gives his nod to be named as party chief.

"I spoke about Delhi politics during the interaction. I was confident as I had met Rahulji several times before that," said Rohit Chaudhary, one of the candidates and a former NSUI national president.

"I worked during the recent Delhi municipal bypolls in Kamboj Nagar," said Rohit, who is an observer for the Karol Bagh area. He was Delhi University students' union president in 2003.

Advisers

The plan to keep a pool of young leaders ready was set in motion when Rahul's advisers realised that a section of veterans with deep roots in the party was not enthused about the proposed change of guard.

In the months following the Congress's worst-ever defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, some of the seniors got anxious that they may have no future if Rahul, who was pitching for a thoroughly revamped organisation, took over as party chief.

Realising that bad press about the sharp divisions within the party was damaging the Congress, a truce was arrived at, assuring the veterans that Rahul's new team would be a "mix of youth and experience".

Subsequently, Rahul held extensive consultations with the senior leaders both at the central and state level to bring them on board over his plans for the organisational revamp. A blue print of sorts was prepared based on these discussions but was never implemented.

Meanwhile, a status quo, Sonia Gandhi as Congress chief and Rahul as her deputy, was suggested till the time was right for the Amethi MP to take over the reins of the Congress. But a short-term measure to ensure a smooth transfer of power has been stretched too far, many in the party feel after the losses in four states this week.

Congress veteran Anil Shastri told Mail Today the status quo was hurting the party more than helping it.

Momentum lost

Recalling that it took around six months for the party leadership to get out of the shock that the Congress was reduced to mere 44 members in the Lok Sabha, a senior leader said there was a glimmer of hope when Rahul inducted around 40 AICC secretaries who were all younger leaders and were given active roles in the organisation.

That change was seen as a precursor to a bigger reshuffle which would present a new and rejuvenated Congress before the country.

"That momentum seems to have been lost. Party functionaries who are in their thirties are expressing concern over their future. Many of them might be exploring other options," a senior leader said on condition of anonymity.

Sometime during the past year, another plan to prepare a younger team across the states was kicked off, but there are concerns over its fate now. As part of creating a talent pool of younger leaders, Rahul personally evaluated resumes and conducted interviews of around 600 members, who were to implement his plans.

This group, in a sense, would be the new Team Rahul, which will give a new flavour and purpose to the Congress that is struggling to reconnect with the voters.

Sources said Rahul had realised the shortcomings of the Congress culture of patronage, which had been followed for decades, and wanted to shift to a more democratic system where youngsters without a pedigree could hope to rise through the ranks.

Also Read: Is Rahul Gandhi an albatross around the Congress's neck?