There's enough time for Mamata Banerjee to change her mind, Alva said.

Barring a brief lull in 2008 triggered by her standoff with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue of family entitlement in ticket distribution, the suave and soft-spoken Alva's career has largely been a dream run.

Strengthening the party's communication strategy to improve public engagement is foremost on the Congress agenda after Rahul Gandhi had stressed that they "have to go back to the people" at the Udaipur meeting.

'Several leaders leaving the party in quick succession tell us that something is very wrong with the oldest party'

The Grand Old Party must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said.

The setback promises to have far-reaching ramifications within and outside the party as it is likely to fuel voices that have challenged the Gandhi family's leadership and also those who have been a votary of a non-Congress front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party.

As India logged a world record of over four lakh coronavirus infections on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the entire world is shaken by what is happening here and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "dropping the ball and throwing it to states" after prematurely taking credit for having "won against COVID-19" when the second wave was already underway. "Rely on yourself is the motto. No one will come to help you. Definitely, not the prime minister," Gandhi said, while alleging that the COVID-19 situation has gone completely out of control for the Modi government, and wondered whether it was their way of making the states and the citizens truly 'Aatmanirbhar'.

An overwhelming number of new appointees across the party's organisational structure -- from the highest decision-making body CWC (Congress Working Committee) to the special committee formed to assist interim party chief Sonia Gandhi -- are known as Rahul Gandhi's confidantes.

Noting that the situation on the ground was "very difficult", the Congress leader said it was high time the prime minister announced a relief package for the poor and a financial stimulus for the economy.

Scindia's departure from the Congress also raises question marks about delayed decision-making and status quo in the Congress.

Madhavrao Scindia briefly left the Congress in 1996 and was later pacified to rejoin ranks

'The uncertainty on future leadership needs to be dispelled. It is already late as if today is yesterday. If necessary, a direction can be given to Rahul Gandhi to assume leadership'

They said it was then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who on February 1, 1986 got the permission for starting prayers at the disputed site and got the locks opened.

Many leaders who appealed to Gandhi to stay argued that their political futures depended on his presence in the party and hence he must stay.

The party and its president, it seemed, were also unable to articulate their views effectively enough

Singh asserted that the people have made up their minds to vote out the government

Voters in Rae Bareli said they feel an emotional connection with the Gandhi family.

"For the entire opposition, the job number one is to defeat Mr Narendra Modi and save Democracy and the Constitution."

Accusing the prime minister of pushing a particular narrative in the media through the PMO, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said "Modi will not be able to deflect from real issues".

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the Nyay plan is a game changer and that the scheme is "fiscally perfectly doable" and will not be implemented rashly.