As spelt out by Sharad Pawar, the Congress has learnt some home truths from its recent electoral reverses. One was, as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader said, that the country doesn't like weak leaders. His other dig was at Sonia Gandhi's kitchen cabinet - the National Advisory Council (NAC) - which gave "free suggestions without much understanding of the ground reality".
What the Congress's reaction to Pawar's second explanation for the debacle is not yet known, but the fact that the party has paid heed to the first one is evident from Sonia Gandhi's comment that a prime ministerial candidate will be announced at an "opportune" moment.
It is also a safe bet that the nominee will be Rahul Gandhi. Up to now, the party has shied away from formally choosing a candidate on the plea that the Indian elections are not a replication of the American presidential model. The party also underlined its practice of selecting the head of a legislature party only after the elections.
However, an unstated reason for not naming an obvious front-runner like Rahul was the uneasy feeling that he was not measuring up to expectations. He was neither attracting crowds comparable to those present at Narendra Modi's rallies nor was his past record in winning elections anywhere near Modi's.
