Two days ago, former minister S S Ahluwalia dashed off a letter of protest to Sonia and today Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee head Sadanand Singh and his predecessor Sarfaraz Ahmed too are believed to have angry letters to Sonia. Former Congress president Sitaram Kesri also got into the act and spent 30 minutes in 10, Janpath in what is being seen as an attempt to save his followers from Sonia's wrath.

Apparently, the Sonia camp is now turning the heat on Kesri's confidant and Congress Working Committee member Tariq Anwar for ``misleading'' her on the Bihar issue by plugging hard for Laloo. Anwar was named in Ahluwalia's letter which blamed the CWC member for toeing the Laloo line against the interests of the Congress.

Quick discussions were the orderof the day in 10, Janpath with Sonia taking a leading role in trying to contain the mess created by Ahluwalia's questioning the motives of some top Congress leaders close to Laloo.

The role of Congress Lok Sabha leader Sharad Pawar is also being questioned in the entire episode. Sensing that Anwar could be in trouble, Kesri is understood to have rushed to 10, Janpath at 1 p.m. to plead Anwar's case.

The whole issue has now taken on a murky overtone with accusations and counter allegations flying in the party. After Ahluwalia's letter, some anger was being aired in the Sonia camp that the party president was being unfairly targetted for what was a joint CWC decision to oppose President's Rule in Bihar.

But things apparently aren't that simple. Soon after the BJP government decided to recommend President's Rule in Bihar, Laloo Yadav is understood to have got in touch with Kesri and Pawar seeking the Congress' support. Kesri anyway is pro-Laloo and he in turn is understood to have contacted Pawar to lobbyfor Laloo.

After this round of talks, Pawar and Tariq Anwar are believed to have called on Sonia and stressed that the Congress must side with Laloo and not be seen on the BJP's side. This view gained in the party's top circles and Sonia is reported to have cleared the support to Laloo in the end.

That CWC decision to back Laloo after having targeted him and Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Pachmarhi brainstorming camp was a policy reversal of sorts. Predictably, it aroused varying reactions within the party. A large section in the Congress was dismayed, feeling this step would only add to the party's woes in Bihar.

The party's Bihar unit too was divided into two camps and they voted accordingly on the confidence motion moved by Rabri Devi. The party's pro-Jharkhand line also got buried in the Congress support to the Rabri Devi government. This too is causing concern in the Congress with some leaders wondering how to now tackle the Jharkhand unit.

What Ahluwalia has thus done is raise some disturbingquestions for the Congress. Since Sonia is still in the process of learning the ropes, a section of Congress believes she could be misled.

In the past, she had nominated losing Lok Sabha candidates for the Rajya Sabha and CWC member Jitendra Prasada paid for it later. He was sacked as party vice-president and his objections were overruled when Sonia appointed Salman Khurshid as UPCC chief. Heads could now roll over the Bihar episode, some party leaders feel.