He denied the BJP’s claims that its victory was a mandate for development. “Right from the beginning, Modi played the communal card. What do you think he was doing when he raked up the Sethusamudram project?” he said.

Prasad conceded that the margin of Modi’s victory was “unexpected”. And that its dalliance with BJP rebels did not pay off. The party’s performance in Saurashtra, where it hoped to reap a rich harvest, was way below its expectation. “Saurashtra was our Waterloo,” said Prasad.

Pressure is expected to mount on Patel — his detractors point out that he was the strategist-in-chief of the Gujarat campaign and should own up for the rout.

Unfair, say Patel’s supporters, claiming he kept the party united and worked closely with the party president to put up a “valiant fight” against Modi.

So what will be the verdict’s effect on the Centre? For the record, party leaders said there was no question of going back on the nuclear deal but they admitted that this wasn’t the time to dare the Left.

“The Left will withdraw support at some point of time, we know,” said a senior Congress leader. “But let’s see what happens in the immediate future. We cannot say anything about the nuclear deal as of now.”

The BJP twisted the knife with a beaming spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that “Prakash Karat may become a good boy now” and their “hatred for the BJP is reinforced.”

The Left itself remained undeterred, saying the defeat showed that the Congress needed to rethink its ties with the US and economic policies. And that electoral efforts alone are insufficient to defeat communal forces.

... contd.