New Delhi:
From the west to east, rebellion is troubling the Congress party, which is still coming to terms with its enormous defeat in this year's general elections.
In Assam, top Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma quit the cabinet of Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, demanding a change in leadership in the state. In Maharashtra, powerful Congress veteran and senior minister, Narayan Rane resigned. He has much the same demand - his target, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan.
Assam and Maharashtra are two of the 11 states where the Congress is still in power. In both states, the Congress performed poorly in the general elections, leaving the leadership vulnerable to revolt.
In Guwahati, Mr Sarma said he had met the governor and conveyed to him that many of the Congress' 78 legislators in the state are not willing to "mentally, physically and politically" work under Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. The minister put his party on notice - he has quit as minister, but remains in the Congress - days after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi voiced support for Mr Gogoi.
Narayan Rane did not disclose why he was resigning as Maharashtra's Industries minister, but he is said to be upset at not being projected as the Congress' leader in the state for the assembly elections due later this year.
Mr Rane has long claimed that the Congress promised him the post of chief minister when he joined the party after quitting the Shiv Sena in 2005. He recently warned that the assembly elections results would not be different from those of the general elections under the present leadership. The Congress and partner NCP had won 6 of the state's 48 seats; the BJP and Shiv Sena won 42.
In Assam, the Congress could win only three of 14 Lok Sabha seats.
Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni admitted that the party's poor showing in the general elections had encouraged rebels to "raise their heads."
"There do come times in the history of political parties...when forces raise their heads to voice their demands. Challenge before leadership is to take the right decision," she said.