In a rare gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday had a brief conversation with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha chamber. PM Modi reportedly asked Gandhi about her well-being after her flight from Bengaluru made an emergency landing on Tuesday.
Just before the House met for the day, Modi took a round to greet various leaders. As he reached the bench of opposition leaders, he had a brief conversation with Gandhi.
While news agency PTI stated that it is customary for leaders to greet each other on the first day of Parliament session, a report in NDTV mentioned that the PM asked about Gandhi’s well-being.
On Tuesday, a New Delhi-bound chartered plane carrying Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi made an “emergency” landing at the Bhopal airport, even as airport director Ramji Awasthi claimed that it was a priority landing and not an emergency landing.
The aircraft made an emergency landing at the Raja Bhoj airport, Bhopal police commissioner Harinarayan Chari Mishra told PTI. He did not provide further details, but a Congress leader said a technical glitch led to the unscheduled touchdown.
Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Women’s Commission chairperson Shoba Oza said, “The chartered plane carrying Sonia ji and Rahul ji made an emergency landing because of some technical snag.”
On getting information about the development, senior Congress leaders, including Oza, former Union minister Suresh Pachori, MLAs PC Sharma, Arif Masood and Kunal Choudhary rushed to the airport and met the Gandhis in the lounge. They also enquired about their well-being.
The chartered plane was on its way to New Delhi from Bengaluru, where Rahul and Sonia Gandhi attended a mega meeting of opposition parties earlier in the day, Oza said. “Both of them left for New Delhi by an IndiGo flight at around 9.30 pm,” she said.