The announcements include imposing a three-year moratorium before offering party posts to people who quit the Congress and return, dropping a crucial portion of the draft political paper suggesting Muslims were not pulling their weight behind the party, opting out of coalitions in the long term, a firm `no' to signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and rejection of the Gujral doctrine under which India unilaterally made peace with its neighbours.

Yesterday's fireworks carried on in organisational group discussions today, the second of the three-day camp. People like N D Tiwari were reluctant witnesses to widespread anger on defectors being given plum posts on their return to the Congress fold.

In the end, the group of 109 is understood to have agreed that a three-year period of party work was necessary before any prodigal was offered aresponsible position. Barring a last-minute change, this is expected to be part of the final declaration to be announced tomorrow.

The announcement will affect leaders like S Bangarappa, who has just made his umpteenth return to the Congress; Abrar Ahmed, a former Congress union minister who had a stint with the Bharatiya Janata Party before backtracking, Sis Ram Ola and Satpal Maharaj, both ministers till recently who disbanded their All India Secular Congress before merging with the Congress and any other potential comebacks.

It is not clear though whether it will affect the position of Arjun Singh, who is a Congress Working Committee member, and N D Tiwari, who was till recently Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president.

It also makes things a little difficult for leaders like G K Moopanar and P Chidambaram, whose Tamil Maanila Congress is an off-shoot of the Congress, and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has taken over the Congress mantle in West Bengal after quitting the parentorganisation.

It also indicates a level of confidence the Congress seems to have discovered in itself over the lengthy deliberations in the brainstorming camp here.

However, the party has a lot to do before it can regain lost credibility without the help of defectors and smaller parties formed out of the Congress.

At one level, it is a leaf out of the Left's book, where the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI and others make people wait and work for their parties before even offering them full membership.

Interestingly, party President Sonia Gandhi is understood to have approved of the penalty to be imposed on defectors, even nodding in approval at the anger against such people. A section of the party believes this is just the beginning of the display of Gandhi's iron fist in the Congress, wrapped in velvet so far.

The other heated affair was the disappointment expressed against Muslims in the draft political paper. People like Jitendra Prasada and Ahmed Patel are believed to have taken suchexception to this, that political group leader Arjun Singh was forced to apologise and delete the section.

Gandhi is also believed to have sought an explanation from Singh on how the relevant paragraph got in.

The controversial section said, ``In pursuit of its secular and socially just philosophy, the Congress has made conscious choices in selecting candidates from among the minorities and weaker sections for party and government positions. But these candidates in turn have not always succeeded in adequate measure in becoming the vehicle for mobilising their social groups in favour of the Congress.''

``The party should select and back candidates from these communities in such a manner that they do not remain mere symbols and get on with the task of mobilization for the party.''

``Mobilisation of weaker sections of society, women and minorites requires: a) choice of appropriate leadership from among them, b) effective sharing of power with them at all levels, c) ameliorating their social and economicconditions as a matter of national priority.''

It was the closest the Congress had come in recent times to doubting the credentials of Muslims and it raised hell in the political discussions. It thus stands dropped and the final declaration, in all probability, will return to aggressive Congress secularism.

The party has also veered around to saying no to long-term alliances with potential partners in coalition politics, preferring instead to sweat it out in the hope of revival of glory.

The idea apparently is to try and make space for itself where it has no presence, like in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab. That is a large part of India and it is doubtful whether the Congress has the patience to stomach setbacks but the majority of the political group believes it has. So, allies are welcome in the short-term, but not for ever.

Two other crucial decisions came in the minuscule foreign affairs group of 14. After long hours spent in consultation, partly because Sonia orderedthem to stay put and talk, this group felt the CTBT must be rejected outright. ``The CTBT should not be signed,'' said a top leader indicating that the Congress might have finally made up its mind on the touchy issue which has become immediate following Pokhran-II. It thus puts more pressure on the BJP-led Government, which will have to deal with it by September 1999 should the Government last till then.

The Congress also formally rejected the Gujral doctrine saying instead of unilaterally buying peace with prickly neighbours, implying Pakistan, India should make other countries realise that peace is achieved only with co-operation between countries.

On the economic front, the Congress has firmly said it is left of centre and will continue to stay so. Thus, while liberalisation is fine, it must have a throbbing human component. Poverty is apparently back on the Congress agenda.