Amid widespread cynicism that the enquiry would prove to be yet another futile exercise in a long list of similar probes that were buried quietly after the initial heat had subsided, the Sonia team seemed to mean business.

Barely a couple of hours after their arrival in the metropolis, they got down to brass tacks. Among the first persons they met were Pradhan who is believed to have armed them with a list of the cross-voting MLAs. The Indian Express was informed under conditions of strict anonymity that most of these names belonged to people in camps perceived to be pro-Sonia and anti-Pawar.

Around 45 party executives and legislators, who were still in Mumbai, converged on Gandhi Bhavan, the State Congress headquarters,during the course of the day. Telegrams have been despatched to others who left for their home town immediately after Thursday's polling to return to Mumbai post haste. They are expected back by Monday.

Those present, though, were called in individually and spoken to for ten minutes by all members of the team. This appears to be a departure from the past when legislators were met by observers in groups to ascertain their views of the party leadership. According to Vijaybhaskar Reddy, the leader of the team, the party high command has taken a very grim view of the defiance of the party whip for the lure of money and is determined to identify the legislators. ``We will suggest remedies,'' he said, adding that the punishment would be a deterrent to such acts violative of party discipline in the future.

The team was acquainted early with the problem of the growing division among supporters of Sharad Pawar, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and those who describe themselves as ``loyalists''. Withboth sides now blaming each other for Thursday's fiasco, Congress Working Committee member Rajesh Pilot, a key component of the high-powered team, attempted to play down the aspect of factionalism by offering a mild snub to a questioner who asked, ``How many people from the Pawar group have met you today?''

``There is nothing like a Pawar group or a non-Pawar group here. It's all part of the Congress group,'' he said.

However, there appeared to be more Pawar supporters than otherwise at today's meeting. The former Chief Minister was himself absent, being away in London ostensibly for a knee operation. However, Pilot said the team would not be handicapped by the absence of either Pawar or Chhagan Bhujbal, the leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, who were the chief strategists for both the Rajya Sabha and the Council polls as they had already delivered their assessments to the party high command before their departure for London separately. Pawar left eight hours after the RSresults came in; Bhujbal left last night after seeking Pilot's permission for the same. ``The party president told me that Pawar was scheduled for a knee operation in London this week and had informed her before his departure. Prior to leaving, though, he gave her a detailed assessment of the situation, so we already have his views on the subject,'' he said.

Similarly, Bhujbal, who also needs an operation on his vocal chords, had sought Pilot's permission for his departure. ``Bhujbal has to shout so loud all the time, I always knew he would need this surgery,'' said Pilot tongue-in-cheek, adding more seriously, ``He offered to stay back if need be but we did not think it necessary. He, however, promised to give us a written report which was delivered into our hands just a brief while ago. We have yet to read it,'' Pilot said.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that the team appeared to comprise persons not very friendly to Pawar, it was the Maratha warlord's men who seemed to have got their ear first. Notsurprisingly, they were unwilling to comment on whether Pawar's strategy to prop up one independent against another in the RS was a good gamble or a bad one. Pawar supporters insist that had so many MLAs not cross-voted, it would have paid off and the party would have got the advantage of not just cutting down moneybags but also imperilling the Sena-BJP government.

``What happened has deeply hurt us,'' said A K Anthony, the third member of the team. ``It is disheartening that such a thing (money-bags politics) should happen in Maharashtra. It is a severe blow to democracy. While even other parties had to suffer similar cross voting, we in the Congress take this very seriously as we believe this has started a very dangerous trend in the country.''