Singh's one-time ``student'' Ajit Jogi will therefore be the lone party spokesperson from now on, though others, from the nine-member media committee, are likely to be inducted to help him out from time-to-time. Officially, the reason being given for Singh's removal is that he was inducted only for the ``crisis period'' and since that is over, he will concentrate on other tasks.

Many CWC members and Congress MPs have held Singh guilty of ``monopolising'' Sonia and misleading her about the support it would get from other parties.

During a day-long session Sonia had with party MPs two days ago, she was flooded with complaints against Singh. At least three senior CWC members complained to Sonia that they were ``cut-off'' from her and only Singh seemed to have access to 10, Janpath.

This is the secondsetback for Arjun Singh after Sonia became Congress president. The first was in June 1998 when he was denied Rajya Sabha ticket from Madhya Pradesh on the grounds that losing Lok Sabha candidates should not be nominated to Parliament's Upper House.

However, all is not lost for Singh. It is understood that 10, Janpath, has cleared his candidature informally from Satna, Madhya Pradesh, for the coming Lok Sabha election.

Though the process of selecting candidates is a long and formal one in the Congress, some senior leaders have been informally sounded to begin work in their probable constituencies. Apparently, this is to see that big names get ample time to rustle up support.

It is also understood that 10, Janpath, is close to readmitting two outgoing Lok Sabha MPs, Kalpnath Rai and Buta Singh, into the Congress. The duo quit during P V Narasimha Rao's tenure and have put in requests for readmission into the Congress. This was kept pending for some time but sources said the issue has almost beenresolved.