In fact Sonia has been busy overriding the opinion of many of her Congress Working Committee (CWC) colleagues that perhaps the time is ripe to replace the BJP-led coalition Government.

Apparently, 10, Janpath has informed leaders like Manmohan Singh, Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar to play down any efforts on this front. The trio is among the section of the CWC which is keen to oust the Vajpayee Government for its alleged ``misrule''.

Anwar in fact went a step ahead recently in Ranchi, where he said the Congress was ready to form the next Government at the Centre with the help of allies. The Congress president was informed in advance by Mulayam Singh Yadav that he was floating a new Front in support of the Congress. Despite this, Sonia remained aloofto the idea of forming the next Government immediately.

Also, the Congress is aware that for the moment both Mulayam and Laloo Yadav are driven by personal agendas which the Congress is not bound by. Laloo's immediate problem is the possible dismissal of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Government in Bihar run by his wife Rabri Devi. He has the urgent fear of the RJD Government's poor showing undoing his efforts, should the BJP talk tough.

Likewise, Mulayam too is upset that the Kalyan Singh Government is not being pushed enough with the BJP Government in 7, Race Course Road. Should the temple come up in any way at Ayodhya, the feeling is that the anti-BJP parties may not be able to stall its full-fledged construction at a later date.

These factors do not upset the Congress at a level they are bothering the two Yadav leaders currently. However, it must be noted that the two leaders retained their vote share under immense pressure in the Lok Sabha elections.

Another issue bothering the Congress is thelack of enough numbers in the Lok Sabha to stay in power with comfort. Any alternative arrangement led by the Congress is likely to suffer from the same problems the BJP is racked by at the moment. This is leading Sonia to stay away from any real work on Government formation.

She reiterated her stance of sitting tight today before leaving for a three-day tour of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Though the visit is part of a planned series of tours across the country, its timing sends out a message Sonia has stuck to from the beginning: That the Congress will not stake claim to form a Government when it doesn't have the required numbers.

And when she hits AP, Sonia plans to make maximum capital out of her visit.