Sonia’s surprise visit to Allahabad
ALLAHABAD: Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a surprise visit to Swaraj Bhawan here on Monday afternoon and held a meeting with office bearers of the Kamala Nehru Memorial Trust. It was her second visit to the city in 23 days. She had come to Swaraj Bhawan earlier on February 12 after a two-day tour of her Lok Sabha constituency Rae Bareli.
Party sources said the Congress chief ’s visit could be in connection with the National Herald case and added that she may have wanted to ensure that all trust papers were in order.
The Congress chief arrived at the Bamrauli airport around 1am by a chartered plane from New Delhi and headed straight to Swaraj Bhawan where officials of Kamala Nehru Memorial Hospital, Anand Bhawan, Jawahar Planetarium and Bal Bhawan were summoned.
As the news spread, police officials, as well as Congress leaders and activists, rushed to Swaraj Bhawan, but were denied entry by the Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel.
Uttar Pradesh Cong ress Committee (UPCC) spokesperson Kishore Varshney said the party chief went through important documents of the trust. After a nearly three-hour meeting, Sonia Gandhi left for Delhi at around 4.30pm, he added.
“Gandhi greeted us before saying politely that she was here in connection with work related to various trusts named after former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru,” UPCC general secretary Mukund Tiwari said.