Congress sources said Deshmukh, who has survived several attempts in the past to remove him as Maharashtra CM, also seemed to be in trouble. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan and Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have emerged as contenders for the top job in the state.

Sonia Gandhi had consistently stood by Patil all these months, allowing him to fend off criticism from friends and foes after every terror attack. But she sent out a clear signal in her opening remarks to the CWC.

“We can no longer sit back and let these attacks overwhelm us. Our response has to be effective and it has to be decisive... As the party that leads this coalition, our first task is to restore faith among the people. They must feel that they have a government that is taking all possible measures to give succor to those who need it and, more important, to ensure that there is no recurrence of such traumatic acts of terror... The time for intent is over. The nation is looking to us for decisive action and determined leadership,” she said.

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi was in an equally combative mood. “The country is bigger than any election,” he said at the meeting. He wanted to know what the government was doing about Pakistan which had “slapped” the country. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath had similar views, saying some strong message had to be sent to Pakistan.

Unlike past CWC meetings over terror which were were more like window-dressing exercises expressing concern and conveying condolences, this was different. A host of speakers, including Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram and Arjun Singh, demanded accountability.

... contd.