The ruling Congress betrayed nervousness on the eve of poll verdict with its campaign face missing in action, an MP virtually conceding his defeat and a senior leader asking regional parties to elect TMC chief Mamata Banerjee as their leader, besides all its taking heads gearing up to defend Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the polices of his government. A day after controversy over the Congress vice president skipping a dinner hosted by its president Sonia Gandhi for the outgoing PM, the party on Thursday signalled its leaders would stand by Rahul and Singh if predictions in exit polls come true. Congress spokespersons have also been asked to go soft on regional parties during media interactions on Friday as it still hopes that BJP-led NDA would fall short of the magic figure of 272. Although it has more or less conceded that Congress tally would be around 100, lines of communication were intact with regional satraps. “Regional secular parties should come together and elect their leader. Mamata Banerjee may be the leader of the third largest group. There should be consensus on her name. All secular parties should come together to keep Modi away from power,” Rashid Alvi said as he hinted that Congress might support any such alliance to form the government. Meanwhile, East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit said he is unlikely to win suggesting that the anti-incumbency factor was at play. With Rahul away, there were no official meetings on Thursday, but Sonia had some visitors. Both Sonia and Rahul are expected to address the media in the afternoon once the results become clear.
