The Congress, who has presently become a "leaderless" party, has also been facing multiple shocks at the state levels.
The party managed only 52 seats on its own and many of its top leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia were defeated in the polls.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said the Congress Working Committee will meet soon and decide whether he should resign as the party chief following the electoral debacle.
The creation of Telangana will be essentially because people of different regions are not happy with the Nehruvian era's criteria where amongst the many issues language was the basis of creating internal boundaries within India.
The base camps of Pamba and Nilackal witnessed intensified protests as the Lord Ayyappa temple opens for the five-day monthly pooja on Wednesday evening, for the first time after the landmark top court verdict.
The Congress chief met senior United Democratic Front leaders, including Ramesh Chennithala and P K Kunhalikutty.
During the Emergency years (1975-77), Dhawan was among Indira Gandhi's inner circle of leaders.
'Since the two successive drubbings of the Congress have rung the alarm bells about the party's future, the need to chart a new course cannot be delayed any further,' says Amulya Ganguli.
After the party's near washout in assembly polls, the demand for a overhaul is growing with spokesman Abhishek Singhvi arguing for younger state leaders.
Rahul Gandhi, who Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said will be 'back soon' from his sabbatical, could replace his mother in the top party post as early as May.
Rahul feels collective decisions taken with his mother and sister helped the party in the December assembly elections. Hence, he wants to follow the same strategy for the Lok Sabha election, too.
Congress Working Committee members could offer their resignation at its meeting on Monday in the wake of the party's worst-ever performance in the Lok Sabha polls, amid indications that it could witness an attack on advisors of party vice president Rahul Gandhi while insulating him from criticism.
Once considered the unlikely heir to the political legacy of the Gandhi family, Sonia has earned the distinction of being the longest serving president of India's grand old party.
The party will launch its 'Sevagram Se Sangram' likening its fight against Modi-led government to the freedom struggle against the British.
'There is no meritocracy or at least there is none that is visible and transparent.' 'The Congress has two opportunities to change this,' says Aakar Patel.
Referring to her party's pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, she said it was based on "mutual respect" and "honest intentions", adding that "the SP-BSP alliance is perfect enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
The audio tape suggested financial inducement behind the Congress candidate withdrawing from fray in an assembly bypoll last year.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi's decision not to name Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate has demoralised the already-bruised cadre. Expect a stormy AICC session in New Delhi on Friday, says Renu Mittal
The meeting of the party's highest decision-making body will go into the reasons behind the party's debacle and discus as to why its poll narrative failed to convince the people.
'The Congress's policy is it will take benefits from everybody, but when it gets an opportunity, it does not want to share it with others'
It would be best that Rahul remains party chief, but at the same time, Rahul's own wishes must also be respected, Aiyar said.
Moily asserted that Gandhi continues to be the AICC president and he has not stepped down.
Today political parties are not in a position to judge easily which castes, communities and groups are on their side due to the fluid situation where every caste wants empowerment. That makes this Rajasthan election interesting, says C P Joshi in a rare and exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
The US president tweeted on Friday that Mulvaney "has done an outstanding job" in his administration and would take over from John Kelly in the new year.
Apart from being the CM twice earlier, he has won a series of Lok Sabha and assembly elections from the state and headed the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee four times.
Senior Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh Keshav Rao resigned from his party on Thursday and joined the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Hyderabad.
Sarma added that the oath-taking ceremony would take place on March 6.
'Scindia's willingness to consort with the BJP, a party he has rightly, and eloquently, excoriated in various speeches and statements in the recent past suggest a shallowness and hollowness of convictions and principles.'
The ruling party seems in far better shape than the Congress, which is yet to finalise seat-sharing agreements in several states.
He has also convened the first meeting of the extended CWC on July 22 to chalk out the party's future strategy.
Even as the Congress claimed credit for the decision to form Telangana state, other parties on Tuesday gave mixed reactions with Bharatiya Janata Party claiming it would have formed the state during NDA rule but for opposition from a key ally while the Left cautioned that this may spur more such demands.
Brushing aside opposition after dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance coalition on Tuesday unanimously endorsed creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh.
Whether Rahul likes it or not, he will be judged by what he does to put the party back on its feet, says Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi read out the Preamble to the Constitution of India as part of the 'Satyagraha of Unity' protest.
Andhra Pradesh's opposition parties attacked ruling Congress for leaving a decision on Telangana statehood issue to the party's highest decision-making forum Congress Working Committee.
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership.
Nath had said in Bhopal, "Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh are deprived (of jobs)."
Rahul reiterated that there was massive corruption in the Rafale deal.
The Congress chief, however, said he was not expecting any cooperation from the prime minister and the BJP-led central government for the development of Wayanad and Kerala.
"This is not the appropriate time to be going ahead with political programmes., However, what really shocked us was as at this point in time when the nation is looking towards its leadership, when the nation wants its leadership to speak to it, the prime minister chooses to address the booth workers of the BJP rather than address the nation," said the Congress.
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