Shinde, who is heading a fact-finding team constituted by Sonia to go into the reasons that led to the party's "debacle" in the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar, individually met the Congress candidates, the party's district and town chiefs and other senior leaders at Sadaquat Ashram.

Talking to media persons, Shinde said that most party candidates who lost in the Lok Sabha polls had favoured "breaking" Congress ties with the ruling RJD.

"They said that the party could have done better had it gone alone at the hustings without having any truck with the Laloo Prasad Yadav-led RJD," he said.

The AICC leader said that consolidation of anti-Laloo forces coupled with sharp division in votes on caste lines were mainly cited as reasons for the party's poor showing.

He, however,parried a question as to whether the Congress would withdraw its support extended to the minority RJD ministry led by Rabri Devi in Bihar.

Shinde said that he would submit an action plan to the Congress president for "revitalising" the party in Bihar on April 15.

Shinde, along with other members of the AICC fact-finding panel spent the day at the state party office to hold consultation with the senior party-men of the state. Meanwhile, the campaign for removal of the BPCC president, Sarfaraz Ahmed, appeared to have picked up momentum with a section of Congress men urging the observers to immediately remove Ahmed.