New Delhi, June 8: The capital today kept its eyes glued to the footprints of Ahmed Patel, seeking divine clues to the presidential polls after a Congress core committee meeting around noon.

Among the multiple destinations of Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary was an uncommon one: North Block, which houses the office of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Patel, who had gone to 10 Janpath after the core committee meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence, reached Mukherjee’s office around 5pm. Patel spent 50 minutes with the Congress’s veteran trouble-shooter.

The duration of the meeting became a subject of dissection among the capital’s power trackers, throwing up two conflicting conclusions. The less-accepted assessment was that Patel needed the 50 minutes to convince Mukherjee of the reasons why his name was not being proposed for President.

But the conclusion that gained wider currency was that Patel and Mukherjee discussed suggestions that can be put forward to the leadership to fill the vacancy and address the possible chain-reaction of changes in the government if the finance minister moves to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Once Patel stepped out, Mukherjee met several finance ministry officials and later left for Calcutta.

On record, the Congress refused to confirm or deny if the core committee had cleared Mukherjee as the presidential candidate.

Some Congress leaders insisted it was still too early to speak with finality as Sonia had to formally propose her party’s nominee to the allies and other supporting parties before declaring the candidate.

Sonia wants all alliance partners in Delhi around June 16, when the UPA candidate is expected to file nomination papers for the presidential election, the Congress leaders said. All senior UPA leaders are being sounded out.

Congress leaders advised “patience” but privately conceded that Mukherjee was still the most probable choice. Sources in parties such as the DMK and the NCP said their perception, too, was that Mukherjee was the real candidate.

But the Congress leaders cautioned in the same breath that a last-minute surprise could not be ruled out, perhaps keeping in mind how Sonia sprang Pratibha Patil’s name the last time.

“One week is a lot of time in politics,” one senior AICC functionary said while explaining “the decision depends on so many imponderables”.

Many cabinet ministers have started lobbying for the two coveted posts — finance minister and leader of the Lok Sabha — that will fall vacant if Mukherjee moves on.

It will not be easy for Sonia to find a replacement to fill the political void if Mukherjee shifts to Rashtrapati Bhavan and hence some leaders still refuse to believe this could happen. Another section feels it is time the party built another rung of crisis-managers for the future.