hings remain the same for the Congress despite its worst ever defeat because nothing has changed in 10 Janpath, which refuses to give up its status quo attitude and see the reality. Sonia Gandhi continues to let Rahul set the agenda, although he and some of his team members do not seem to have learnt any lessons. In a move indicating that the leadership was not going to change, Rahul Gandhi has appointed Madhusudan Mistry, his key aide who lost the Vadodara election to Narendra Modi by 5.70 lakh votes, to be the points person for receiving reports from defeated candidates on the reasons for their loss. Mistry, who was with the BJP at one time, is seen as "an outsider" by the rank and file. Ajay Maken attacked Smriti Irani without realising that the HRD Minister's lack of qualification debate was going to start a controversy where the names of some former Congress Prime Ministers have now unnecessarily figured. Signs of an impending revolt are in the air as some leaders have already started questioning Rahul's ability to lead while others have been critical of the vice president's advisors in order to show how badly the organisation was being run. No heads have rolled so far and it is obvious that the accountability of the loss will never be fixed since all fingers will point towards the Congress high command. But it is the sycophants who rule.

The buzz inside 10 Janpath is that people will be disillusioned with the Modi government sooner than later and come back to the Congress fold. It is being said that the outcome of the state polls to be held later this year may demonstrate the preference for the grand old party amongst voters as the BJP is bound to falter. The misplaced optimism is based on the presumption that if the party could make a remarkable recovery in the late 1970s when both Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi had lost their seats, why cannot it do so again? This kind of thinking gives an indication that the top leadership is oblivious of the ground realities. Even one day before the Lok Sabha results were declared, 10 Janpath insiders were convinced that the Congress was going to get 140 seats and that Meira Kumar would be the Prime Minister with the support of allies. It would take a visit to the party's headquarters next door at 24, Akbar Road to know where the Congress stands. There is hardly anyone amongst the office bearers inside except some whole time employees. The crowds have disappeared and the vacant car parking space both inside and outside show that the party is over, at least for the time being.

The Gandhis — Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka — seem to be reluctant to ascertain seriously the causes of the Congress party's worst defeat ever in a Parliamentary poll. In the last ten days, the Congress president has had several meetings with senior party colleagues, some of whom she had not interacted with one-on-one for quite some time. During the course of the meetings, she assured them that she was going for a big revamp. One senior leader specifically wanted to know whether the revamp would be done by her, implying that it would be of no use if it was to be done by the vice president; Sonia Gandhi said that she would personally conduct the exercise. But insiders say that she still seems to be depending on her son and daughter to seek advice. During the last few days, the Congress president has been closeted in discussions with her colleagues — Ahmed Patel, her political secretary, Ambika Soni, A.K. Antony and Digvijaya Singh. The meetings were held without any specific agenda but to take stock of the situation. She also reached out to Makhan Lal Fotedar, and R.K. Dhawan, both trusted loyalists, whom she had not consulted for a long time. Both of them are believed to have listened to her rather than giving any concrete suggestions. She has met virtually every Congress Chief Minister, from Tarun Gogoi to Virbhadra Singh and from Bhupinder Singh Hooda to Prithviraj Chavan. While some rivals of these leaders have been demanding their ouster, she does not seem inclined to get into the resignation debate since it would lead to a demand at some stage for her or her son's resignation as well.

Many of the defeated candidates hold Rahul and his team responsible for the poor showing and feel that an exercise being conducted by someone who should share the blame is not going to lead to an honest conclusion. Former Union minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo, who was amongst the more than dozen Cabinet ministers who were defeated, has said that advisers of the Congress top leadership were responsible as they did not give ay proper feedback to them. He has called for ending the oligarchical system in the party. Earlier, T.H. Mushthafa, who had called Rahul "a Joker", and had stated that he should resign from the vice presidentship has been suspended.

The impression in the Congress is that it has become a virtual war between those close to Sonia Gandhi and those owing total allegiance to Rahul Gandhi. The end is that the Congress is the ultimate sufferer. The view expressed by chief spokesman Ajay Maken regarding Smriti Irani's qualifications did not find endorsement from a number of leaders, notably the former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari and others such as Digvijaya Singh and Shashi Tharoor. But the Maken line is being pursued by some younger spokespersons such as Ragini Nayak and Sanjay Jha. The senior leaders have advocated caution and feel that the NDA government, which has got a massive mandate should be criticised if it pursues wrong policies and not for its appointments.