For the past four years, Congress President Sonia Gandhi's birthday on December 9 has been the highlight of the winter session of Parliament, at least for the party MPs. It's as much a political tamasha as a show of sycophancy. Which is why, even though it fell on a Monday, none of the MPs went for the usual weekend visit to their constituency.

SWEET CELEBRATIONS: Congressmen wait outside 10 Janpath to wish Sonia

As political birthdays go, this year showed the more things change, the more they remain the same. A day before B-day, 10 Janpath was inundated with phone calls seeking appointments. Everyone was politely told that Sonia had opted for an austere birthday. She issued a statement appealing to partymen not to celebrate her birthday.

But late on Sunday night, party leaders were informed that Sonia had changed her mind and would be receiving visitors between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. They were asked to reach 10 Janpath by 8.30 A.M and told to carry cash rather than bouquets of flowers. No, the party president wasn't short of cash. The money was to be donated to the AICC Relief Fund, a brainwave of AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora.

Over 50 party functionaries, MPs and leaders queued up with cheques and cash. Filmstar Govinda was among the first callers. In keeping with the mood, blankets were distributed to the poor while dancers from Karnataka added the celebratory touch. The real celebrations, however, will await the results from Gujarat.