Sonia Gandhi's plane makes emergency landing in Agra

A private plane flying Congress president Sonia Gandhi was forced to make an emergency landing in Agra due to gutsy winds and bad weather in New Delhi late on Thursday, an official said on Friday.

Sources said Gandhi was on way back to the national capital after addressing a series of election meetings in Uttar Pradesh, the last one being in Gorakhpur.

The plane landed at the Kheria airport in Agra "under emergency procedures", an official said, adding the Congress president then rested for a while at the VIP lounge and waited for the weather in Delhi to clear.

Gandhi flew back to Delhi after spending an hour at the Kheria airport.

In the past weeks, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati too had a close shave when the plane's rear wheel remained stuck during landing at the Lucknow airport.

Similarly, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his MP wife Dimple Yadav had a narrow escape when their helicopter was hit by a bird and the window pane was smashed in the incident.