According to a large section of party members, Congress’s plight in Gujarat has been a result of series of blunders which looked ‘deliberate’. “Rahul Gandhi in fact said things on Saturday that the people of Gujarat had known for decades,” said a senior party member. As a matter of fact, former legislator Manhar Patel had sent a letter to the Congress high command just before Gandhi’s visit pointing out that as many as 75 senior Congress leaders have left the party over the past two decades, with many of them holding the state leadership responsible. Patel had sought a “high-level inquiry” into the exodus and penal action on the leaders responsible for the development.

While several Congress workers admit that upcoming workers and leaders of the party are often courted by the ruling disposition, Congress’s experiment with the young turks like Alpesh Thakore and Hardik Patel has remained a question mark for many.

“Look at the way Hardik or Alpesh were brought in. There were always questions on their political affiliations and proximity to the BJP leadership. But nothing came in their way when they were inducted in the party and given major responsibilities, which they eventually jettisoned to join the BJP formally,” said a young Congress worker. “Their induction and growth within the Congress had come at the cost of those workers, who started out with the Congress and continue to toil for the party, purely for ideological reasons,” he added. The AICC session is scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad between April 8 and 9.