The only different note was struck by Law Minister H R Bhardwaj who spoke of “collective responsibility”.

Shortly after Patil’s resignation, the Prime Minister had a surprise visitor: former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra. While this was not the first time that Mishra — he was the NDA Principal Secretary to Prime Minister and NSA — was meeting Singh, it gave rise to speculation whether he would be formally enlisted by the UPA government to help tackle the crisis.

Contacted by The Indian Express, Mishra said he had a “brief” meeting with the PM in the afternoon for about 20-30 minutes. He said he was surprised at the attention it had drawn since this was not the first time he had been called for consultations.

“I, of course, cannot talk about what we discussed. But it was about the current internal security situation,” Mishra said. Asked about the possibility of being given a formal assignment, he said: “I am now 80 years old. There is simply no question about my getting into something at this stage.”