A divided house

Both Houses of Parliament had to be adjourned for the day on Monday over protests at child deaths in the Muzaffarnagar riot camps and the creation of Seemandhra.

The Congress got a drubbing in the Parliament too, with six Seemandhra members of Parliament (MPs) of the Congress moving a motion of no-confidence against the government.

The Lok Sabha speaker had to admit the motion, considering no similar motion had been passed against the government in the past six months. A senior Congress leader said, "It all depends on other parties and our allies. We need to see what is their stand on the issue."

Congress ministers from Seemandhra have virtually stopped working for the party. They have even informed the top brass that they do not intend to attend to Parliament work. With eight working days left in this session, the government seemed lost.

To add to the sombre mood, no celebrations were held for Congress President Sonia Gandhi's 67th birthday. The official reason given was the national mourning for Nelson Mandela. By late evening, Sonia held a review at her residence with senior All India Congress Committee leaders in charge of the states that had gone to the polls.

The electoral rout was analysed on the Parliament premises too; the central hall was abuzz with MPs dissecting the defeat.

A Congress minister said "strictly off the record" under Rahul Gandhi, youth members was initially inducted into the party with much fanfare but overlooked while delegating responsibility. "We can't carry on this way." The government's inconsistent policies were helping parties like the Aam Aadmi Party to weaned away youth, he added.

More senior leaders grumbled that the party has been taken over by "young tech-savvy team" of Rahul Gandhi and the experienced hands were being given the short shrift. Less importance to the time-tested factors of "winnability" was prominence when chosing candidates. "(Rahul Gandhi's) Favourties like C P Joshi should now be made to answer how they managed to lose Rajasthan so badly," said a Congress MP.