Both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have refused to meet Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha.
A party leader, who is known to be close to Rahul, said he would be elevated "sooner than you think".
For the Congress to be taken seriously, it has to convince those around it that it could actually double its Lok Sabha seat share from the existing 52, and vote-share by a third more from the stagnating 20 per cent in 2014 and 2019, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
His sudden sabbatical to reflect upon the future course of the party may be a prelude to his elevation as Congress president.
Former Congress Working Committee member Jagmit Singh Brar created a flutter with his remarks that there was "no harm" if Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi take a two-year break in the wake of Lok Sabha poll debacle.
Can the Congress vice-president listen to the voices of dissension in the party and change his outlook and style of functioning? In other words, can the party depend on Rahul to bring them back to power, muses Anita Katyal
Welcoming Raghuram Rajan panel report which has put Bihar among the least developed states, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday described it as a 'victory' for the state but was non-committal on alliance with the Congress for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi's surprise sabbatical has exposed faultlines in the Congress.
Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi's decision to use the same team he used in the Lok Sabha polls for the upcoming assembly elections has not gone down well with many in the party. Rediff.com contributor Renu Mittal reports
AK Antony's statement of the Congress appearing to no longer being secular and playing minority politics just might be one of the reasons for the party's poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections. Renu Mittal reports how the Congress may be adopting a new approach.
Congress campaign seeking to paint the ruling party as anti-poor and anti-farmer seems to have unnerved the BJP, feels T N Ninan.
"The Delhi results are indication of shape of things to come in our future politics. The sweep of AAP and just three seats to BJP showed hollowness of Modi's political hype", he noted.
Rattled by the electoral debacle, the Congress is seriously considering replacing chief ministers of Maharashtra, Assam and Haryana in a major shake-up ahead of assembly elections.
An inchoate anger is brewing within the party against the central leadership after the poor show in the assembly polls.
In her letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi three days ago, Kidwai said she was relinquishing charge as party general secretary and Mahila Congress chief as he felt that Rahul Gandhi should be given the necessary space to bring in younger leaders of his choice
'Will the Statue of Unity and Tent City Narmada have as much of a transformational effect on the local economy as the salt desert/Tent City Dhordo did is something that only time can tell,' says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Digvijaya Singh, the Congress veteran who is one of its general secretaries, talks about his inability, despite years of urging, to get party vice-president and supposed heir, Rahul Gandhi, to communicate more directly. And, on related matters of generational change.
Since two weeks now, A K Antony has been meeting Congress leaders across India to pinpoint reasons behind the party's abysmal performance in Lok Sabha elections.
Since the AICC general secretary is known to be close to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, there is every possibility that he could be speaking on behalf of the party leadership, reports Anita Katiyal.
In the coming days, the Congress may be run by a trimurti of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka, with Rahul holding the primary position both in Parliament and in the party and Sonia and Priyanka helping him out as and when required.
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in an interview to a leading daily, has stated that he is "ready to take charge".
'Delhi 2015 is a warning of an intensifying nightmare in the offing.'
Despite the recent electoral reverses, Rahul is getting ready to walk the fire once more. The question is whether he will get burned or burnished in the process, says Saroj Nagi.