After reading this, I feel sorry for the state of affairs (that a person may be hung to gain/offset some political mileage), at the same time, i cant help but appreciate the way things have unfolded.

Whoever is working on his case in cong is damn intelligent and cong has 'used' Afzal's case very well. I mean, look at it this way, had the govt not stalled his clemency petition and had they subscribed with supreme court's order, then not many would have noticed what happened. But they spotted an opportunity, they kept the mercy petition pending, allowed bjp to make noises abt the case, and donned the role of a govt which is considerate to minorities. Now, they have spotted that there is a chance of the issue backfiring, and they will do their best to prevent that. They basically played a game in which they had nothing to lose, only to gain, if at all. Contrast this with what bjp would have done and you would agree that cong indeed has 'seasoned' politicians.