After poll heat, Sonia and family take a cool break

After the rigour of the over-a-month-long Lok Sabha poll and government formation after that, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is in the mood for a holiday.

She has taken a few days off from her busy schedule and is spending some quality time with daughter Priyanka and grandchildren in the cool climes of Shimla. Priyanka, who campaigned aggressively for brother Rahul in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, too, apparently, needed a break.

Sonia and family arrived here in a helicopter on Sunday. They first visited Charabra, where Priyanka is building a cottage, an official said on Monday.

After inspecting construction work for about half-an-hour, the family left for Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi Group luxury resort on the outskirts of Shimla. “They spent entire Sunday at the resort,” the official said, adding that the Gandhi family was expected to stay here till Tuesday.

“Sonia and Priyanka come here almost every summer, but it’s a private affair,” he said.
State Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur said, “We have no information on the visit of the party president (Sonia).”

Local Congress leader Kehar Singh Khachi, who has been supervising construction of the Priyanka pad, said, “The cottage will be ready by the end of this year.”