Expressing his deep anguish and pain over the party becoming directionless, particularly after getting a drubbing in the parliamentary polls, Shotgun fired yet another salvo at the top leadership.

“I would urge my party leaders, both at the national level and in Bihar to do some ‘atma-manthan’ (self-introspection) to stem the rot,” averred Shatru at a function here organised to felicitate former Governor Kailashpati Mishra. “If required, the party should undergo a ‘surgery’ to get a new lease of life,” suggested the former union health minister. But Shotgun, who had showered encomiums on Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, was ridiculed at the function.