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Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The waiting game in the Congress continues. Outside the rear entrance of 10 Janpath and the main entrance of 24 Akbar Road, the residence of Sonia Gandhi and the headquarters of the Congress party, respectively, workers kept up their sloganeering and fasts. But behind closed doors, senior Congress politicians were working overtime to hammer out a solution to the impasse created by Gandhi's resignation as party chief.

The party's rank and file continues to believe that Gandhi will withdraw her resignation, especially in light of the overwhelming support she has received from all quarters, including the Maharashtra unit. Yet, plans are being outlined in hushed tones for a post-Sonia scenario.

According to highly placed sources, Congress politicians now believe she will not change her mind. She has become uncommunicative and has told senior Congressmen who called on her that she is very upset at the charges being made by her own colleagues, including someone like Purno Sangma who was believed to be close to her.

More than that, Gandhi has realised that for better or worse, her Italian origin has become an electoral issue that will not go away, but will become a stick for the Bharatiya Janata Party and other opponents of the Congress to beat her with. It is clearly the party's Achilles heel. And thanks to Sharad Pawar, Tariq Anwar and Sangma, it is now up front.

Congressmen feel that in these circumstances, Gandhi will not withdraw her resignation despite pressure from the party's rank and file. Yet, they are also aware that Sonia Gandhi, Italian or not, remains the party's greatest symbol and vote-catcher, the only individual with the persona to take on the established charisma of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

With this in mind, Congress politicians are now seeking to convince her to at least continue to play an active role in the party rather than step aside completely as she had done during P V Narasimha Rao's reign. They are also quite hopeful that she will campaign for the party in the election, something she indicated in her resignation letter.

The plan being worked on, according to the sources, is that the party will project someone else as its prime ministerial candidate. The option of not projecting someone is considered risky since the main plank is stability. Therefore, the idea is that Sonia Gandhi will be asked to pick her choice for the post. After the poll, she can return to the party leadership -- or more -- since the issue of foreign origin will be quite dead if the Congress wins.

The advantage of projecting someone else is that it takes the wind out of the campaign on Gandhi's foreign origin. The rebels -- Pawar, Sangma and Anwar -- will be in a bind since their demand would have been accepted, but they will clearly feel unwelcome in the party. It also will put the Bharatiya Janata Party on the defensive.

Whether Gandhi will remain party president or not is unclear. It may be pointed out that even the rebels have praised Sonia Gandhi's role as party president. But the sources believe that she is likely to make a clean break from the party leadership, at least for now, so as to leave no room for attack. If she continues as party president, the other parties might insinuate that she intends to become prime minister later.

Former finance minister Manmohan Singh's name is being touted among the frontrunners for projection as prime minister. Dr Singh's advantage is that he has perhaps the cleanest image in a party that has become synonymous with corruption, belongs to a minority community (he is a Sikh) but which is still seen as part of the larger Hindu fold, and can be relied upon by Gandhi. He is also seen as a darling of the middle class, the very section of society that is most exercised about Gandhi's foreign origin and the dynastic issue.

His weakness is that as the architect of economic liberalisation, he is seen to be anti-poor at a time when the party is seeking to project a pro-poor image. But this particular aspect can be corrected by strong propaganda, especially since Singh himself comes from a poor family in West Punjab that migrated to India after Partition and he worked his way up with grit and determination.

But Singh may not be appointed party president. Gandhi might prefer another person for that post since with two different persons at the top, she will have greater say in party matters. The name being touted for the post of party president is Pranab Mukherjee, one of the senior-most Congressmen today. The working committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to decide on this matter.

Meanwhile, with Sangma scheduled to return from the United States tomorrow and Pawar holding a public meeting in Pune, there is an expectation that the rebels will make some moves. Congress politicians are also working on a plan to put pressure on the trio to take a pro-party, anti-BJP stand in a bid to force their hand.

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