Meanwhile, life has turned a full circle for former Union Minister and Congress leader MatangSinh. Exactly five years ago, Sinh, then a close confidant of P.V. Narasimha Rao, was theman calling the shots in the Congress camp in Assam. With the then chief minister HiteswarSaikia having died barely a week before the polls, Sinh was the unchallenged centre ofpower. Today, he is reduced to raving and ranting against the leadership of Sonia Gandhiand other Congress leaders in the state, having been expelled from the party a few yearsago. Sitting in the same room of a posh hotel from where he pulled the strings in 1996,Sinh is now desperately trying to spoil the chances of official Congress candidates bysponsoring rebels.