In the process, the Congress seemed to have turned a small leaf in agitational politics, managing a crowd of about a lakh and taking to the streets at a level last seen during Indira Gandhi's time. Just before she began a trek few expected her to last, Sonia made two points in a brief speech at Bhagwan Dass road: the Congress will not pull the BJP government down for some time but when it does, the party will form the next government.

"We are not hungry for power. We are ready to fulfil our responsibility in the Opposition. Let them rule, who got the chance to do so," Sonia said.

Both points were a repeat of what the Congress chief has held on to for many weeks. Basically, it implies that Sonia is not sure the time is ripe for a coup and that a fair amount of work remains to be done in cobbling together a reasonably hassle-free Congress-led coalition. Timingis the key to what Sonia plans to do but there were a few gains from today's show.

The last national rally the Congress organised was in 1996 when the avuncular P V Narasimha Rao addressed around 40,000 people behind Red Fort who swiftly made their boredom obvious. That rally was a disaster but this one was better. More than double the people, a vast majority of whom lapped up Sonia's presence amid a strong feeling that the BJP could be heading for trouble if it isn't careful.

The thrust of Sonia's speech appeared to be to bring the Congress back into public consciousness as a viable alternative to the BJP by working on the very factors which ousted the Congress: a sense of public disgust and a high degree of daily hardship caused by sundry factors.

Issues were aplenty: spiralling prices of essential commodities, the hospital strike in Delhi, daily murders, no water, no power. And the "rule of middlemen in the marketplace and anti-social elements on the streets", as Sonia put it. "If they can't handlethe nation's Capital, how can they run the country," she asked.

The Congress head felt the "situation in the country is grave", farmers were committing suicides in many states, atrocities on women are on the rise, communal tensions are increasing, Dalits are being stripped of their rights, production is falling, employment opportunities plummeting, and the economic and law and order situation is "terrible".

In short, no governance, no stability -- a reference to continuing hassles in the ruling coalition -- no ability and no able leader thus negating all the BJP's poll promises, as Sonia hit out. Juxtaposed cleverly was the claimed "pros" of the Congress: the only party which means progress and development, justice to all and a government of the poor, for the poor. But it was the manner in which the point was made that caught the eye. By 1:20 pm, the Congress president had ended a 10-minute speech in the oddest of places for a protest rally, the narrow confines of the Bhagwan Dass road at Mandi House. Thenext 80 minutes was pure political theatre.

Stride for stride, Sonia outmatched everybody except the most hardboiled of SPG men. Turning from Bhagwan Dass road onto Tilak Marg, round India Gate before hitting Rajpath and reaching the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan. At the end of it, she was drenched in sweat mumbling "I'm fine at the moment" with many of her party colleagues barely able to talk.

At Rashtrapati Bhavan, the delegation presented a memorandum to the President urging him to ask the Government to check price rise.

Apparently, only the trusted few were told Sonia would walk all the way in the miserable weather. The rest, including many cops, were under the impression she would stop once halted. She didn't. Carefully side-stepping police cordons in five places, halting once to dash into her car Cinderella-like for a change of footwear (a broken strap necessitated this) and checking on who was sweating and who wasn't at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

It was a gritty, ambitious performance and had theCongress MPs talking the rest of the day about "The Walk". About 200 MPs made it. The last time so many leaders from any single party strode up Rajpath was when NTR led his yellow-clad TDP colleagues to the then President. The TDP has since grown in stature and guile. The Congress is hoping Sonia can do better.