The monumental poll debacle has hit Sonia Gandhi hard

'When she was leaving the briefing, I asked Sonia Gandhi, "I hope you are not thinking of bringing in the just-defeated chief ministers as general secretaries of the AICC?" She immediately responded, "No, not at all." Renu Mittal reports from New Delhi.

On the eve of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's birthday on December 9, the party handed over a 4-0 defeat to her in the assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

While the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road remained deserted on Sunday, Sonia Gandhi and her son, party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, walked to the All India Congress Committee office to speak to the media.

They were escorted by senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Janardhan Dwivedi, Ambika Soni and Ajay Maken.

Her chagrin was obvious when a journalist greeted her with a "Good afternoon."

Sonia Gandhi shot back, "It is not a good afternoon today."

Obviously, the dismal results of the assembly elections had hit her hard.

When she was leaving the briefing, I asked her, "I hope you are not thinking of bringing in the just-defeated chief ministers as general secretaries of the AICC?"

She immediately responded, "No, not at all."

There is no chance that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will be made a Congress general secretary after the party suffered its worst defeat in the state under his leadership.