Advisers of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi are in the line of fire following the party's worst-ever showing in the general elections.
After Congress young turk Milind Deora attacked Team Rahul for not having "ears to the ground", senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi called for introspection in the party.
"Milind's statement amounts to nothing more than introspection. I agree with a larger portion of what he said."
Chaturvedi said he hoped an "honest and ruthless introspection" would be done to rectify the problems.
A day after he took a dig at Rahul's advisers, Deora stuck to his position and tweeted on Thursday: "Field party work & electoral battles are key to comprehend ground realities. This should form the basis for leadership posts in Congress."
The controversy erupted three days after Rahul as well as his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi offered to resign, but the members of the Congress Working Committee unanimously turned down their proposal.
"My comments are out of emotions of deep loyalty to the party, pain of our performance & a sincere desire to see us bounce back. Nothing more," Deora said in another tweet.
However, amid indications of dissent against Team Rahul, former Union food minister KV Thomas pitched for Priyanka Gandhi.
"People of this country and Congress members wish that she (Priyanka Gandhi) comes into the organisation," Thomas said.
During the election, Priyanka, Rahul's sister, actively campaigned in the family pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli, hit out at Modi and managed Rahul and Sonia's campaign.
Meanwhile, Congress secretary Priya Dutt met Sonia on Thursday, and said there was a "disconnect" of the party leaders with the people.
Both Deora and Dutt lost the elections in Mumbai.
The BJP, however, refused to comment on the advisers versus the candidates tussle in the Congress. Its spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said it was an "internal matter" of the Congress.