Rashtrapal, an associate of Vaghela, had staged a major upset when he trounced the BJP in Patan but that did not stop him from attacking State Congress president C D Patel during the meeting to discuss the party's electoral debacle in Gujarat. Though he limited himself to Patan where he claimed to have been left on his own -- sans banners, posters, campaign literature and party support -- it was clear that Rashtrapal was actually speaking on behalf of his RJP colleagues.

Congress circles interpret Rashtrapal's assertions as premeditated for he has won and should have little reason to complain since Sonia Gandhi herself campaigned for him. ``His victory would not have happened without party support, which meant mobilising crowds and spending money,'' pointed out Congress leader and former Chief Minister Amarsinh Chaudhary.

Party sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, say that Vaghela used Rashtrapal as his mouthpiece because of the latter's fiery trade unionist image. According to a senior leader, Vaghela has conveyed through Rashtrapal that he is better placed to extricate the party from the woods. But added that Vaghela would buy time before acting. ``Nothing can be done to CD-Amarsinh till they have (party general secretary) Ahmed Patel on their side, even if Vaghela has former External Affairs Minister Madhavsinh Solanki behind him,'' he explains.

The reason Vaghela is keeping a low profile is that he is busy trying to increase his influence at the central level. And this process had begun ever since he went all out to organise the June public meeting to impress Sonia. ``He was like her shadow,'' remarks a Congress leader. Rashtrapal was a small but sure step ahead.

While Vaghela maintained a studied silence at the Delhi meeting, he allowed Rashtrapal to ``vent his feelings''. Finally, C D Patel and Amarsinh intervened to explain that the party extended all help to candidates but lost since polling was on national trends.

And on the loss of tribal seats, party general secretary Ahmed Patel, from whom C D Patel draws strength, attributed it to the Hindu-Christian divide created by the VHP. But before that, word was out that Chaudhary, himself a tribal leader, ought to have campaigned in tribal constituencies instead of staying put at Sabarkantha to campaign for his wife Nishaben. Chaudhary denied the charges. ``I had to be in Sabarkantha as my wife was not well, but in the coming Panchayat elections I will turn the tribals in favour of the Congress,'' he asserted.

The attack clearly is focused on C D Patel and Amarsinh Chaudhary who rule the roost in the State Congress. While Mistry and Vaghela deny that the Rashtrapal outburst was orchestrated, sources argue that it would have been otherwise impossible for him to have spoken. For a newcomer in the party and a first-time MP to complain before a national leader like Sonia Gandhi couldn't have been a easy task. Particularly, since he has won.

Former RJP president Madhusudan Mistry and other Vaghela associates had been saying even before the elections that the Congress lacked the strength of an organisation at work. Their feeling that Vaghela could be a better State leader has only sharpened after the elections, what with animated discussions continuing within the party to put him at the helm.

Mistry had himself written to Sonia Gandhi before the elections that the Congress should work as a party and not as a group of individuals if it wished to win. He had spoken of exploiting the traditional votebanks of the party, now with Vaghela and RJP joining the Congress. Even now, he doesn't mince words on this issue. Vaghela too doesn't disagree, but plays it safe. ``The party leaders are looking into various aspects (of the election results),'' he said.