Such is the nature of suicide bombers that in an attempt to destroy their target, they annihilate themselves. In the case of the Gujarat Congress, the party’s central leadership has proved to be a suicide squad of sorts, that is damaging itself, but to infuse new life in the rival camp.

By letting loose a wounded soldier — Shankersinh Vaghela, who, at 77, knows that he is fighting a veritable final battle, the Congress has set off an explosion that they are also caught in. Vaghela has only lost his chains, but the Congress, its sheet anchor.

And that too, at perhaps the only opportune time for the Congress in 22 years of BJP governance. The odds are heavily stacked against the BJP: the impact of the Goods and Services Tax on the large trading community in Gujarat, the angry Patidars (Patels), the rumblings among Dalits, agricultural distress camouflaged by smart fudging of figures, and above all, the absence of Narendra Modi.

It isn’t without reason that the prime minister has been in Gujarat almost every month since last September and has to hold road shows in Surat and Rajkot, which is Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s hometown. And Amit Shah comes calling at the drop of the hat.

Despite an opportunity like this, the opposition party does not have a single leader of Vaghela’s stature who has an army of supporters across the length and breadth of Gujarat. Bapu, as he is fondly called, was willing to stick his neck out and dared to assert that he could snatch victory from the jaws of Narendra Modi’s BJP in Gujarat.

It may have been a distant dream, but then he is the only one who has the potential to give the BJP a run for its money. There is not one leader worth his salt in the Congress party who can risk the onerous task of taking on the might of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his home state.

Just a day ahead of Vaghela’s resignation on Friday, the Congress leadership had conveyed to him that collective decisions would be taken, team work was essential and disagreements be aired within the party forum.

But teamwork cannot work without a leader who can lead from the front. And Vaghela was one.

Even a cursory look at the Congress’ key leaders in Gujarat gives away what the party has been left with after Vaghela’s exit. State party president and former union minister Bharatsinh Solanki lost his Lok Sabha seat in his fiefdom of Kheda. Former Gujarat party chief and former Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhwadia lost his Porbander Assembly seat and so did former Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil, his home turf Bhavnagar. Siddharth Patel, another former president and son of the late Gujarat chief minister Chimanbhai Patel, lost his traditional Dabhoi seat in 2012. These four are the top leaders.

The resolute Bapu announced to a cheering crowd of at least 10,000 on his 77^th birthday on Friday that he had quit but “I am 77 Not Out. I am not retiring, bapus never retire.”

Four sitting Congress MLAs, including Vaghela himself and his son Mahendrasinh, and NCP’s two legislators in Gujarat were already there. In all, at least a dozen Congress MLAs out of a total 57 in the 182-member Assembly are with him.

Adequate to give a scare to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s political adviser Ahmed Patel when he seeks his fifth re-election in the Rajya Sabha on August 8 from Gujarat.

A real-time indication of the Damocles’ sword that hangs over Patel came just a day before Vaghela’s July 21 public show when it emerged that 11 Congress MLAs cross-voted for NDA’s presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind. UPA’s Meira Kumar got 49 votes, including two of NCP and one BJP rebel. The lone Janata Dal-United legislator Chhotu Vasava abstained from voting.

There is no reason to believe that the trend may not continue in polling for the Upper House. Vaghela stated on Friday that he was resigning as Leader of Opposition on the very day but said he would quit as an MLA only after the Rajya Sabha elections.

He was full praise for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and Ahmed Patel in his public address but his anger is directed at Patel, who, sources close to Vaghela said, has been an obstacle in the way of Bapu being handed over the mantle of the December election battle in the state. When he asserted on Friday, to huge applause and whistling, that, “You have taken supari of the BJP, not me,” the slight was levelled at Patel. The reference here was to the months-long speculation that he might go back to the BJP.

He has left the Congress and is not joining the BJP, but he is also not retiring. Nor will he set up his own party since he had burnt his fingers once with his Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP) after snapping ties with the BJP in 1997.

So what is Bapu up to? While the maverick leader is holding his cards close to his chest, the most plausible theory widely being discussed is that he may join the NCP and lead the negotiations on its behalf with the Congress for a pre-poll seat sharing. Vaghela has been in constant touch with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and the party’s Gujarat in-charge Praful Patel.

Though there is still speculation that Vaghela may eventually join the BJP to avenge his humiliation in the Congress, those who have watched Bapu through four decades vouch that he will never go there.

“Will Modi make him the chief minister of Gujarat? Never. Even if that happens, will Vaghela bow to Modi and Amit Shah? You have got to be joking. Let us assume Modi will make him a governor somewhere, so will Bapu kow-tow to Amit Shah?” laughed a senior legislator close to Vaghela. He does not wish to reveal his name for he is “still inside and waiting for the next signal from Bapu.”

The MLA chuckles: “If Bapu does any of these, I will be the first to recommend a genetic test for him. He is called Bapu for he is a true warrior kshatriya.”