When it began its second innings in 2009, the Congress-ledUnited Progressive Alliance was comfortably placed with 322 MPs including the outside supporters. That happy positionhad come about after the creditable performance of the alliance parties in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. The Congress party on its strength alone had won 206 seats. At that time, it has had staunch allies in Trinamool Congress, DMK and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi at the u00a0party’s three-day Chintan Shivir (brainstorming camp) in Jaipur