Rahul plays hide-n-seek with Advani

NEW DELHI: It is one of those unexpected situations that the ruling Congress’ crown prince Rahul Gandhi and his core team are yet to get familiar with.

Sweating it out while on some serious campaigning in the dusty lanes of Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi and his entourage were in for a shock later that night when, on checking in to Hotel Landamark, the only 5-Star hotel in Kanpur, they discovered that leader of Opposition LK Advani was staying in the same hotel.

As soon as he got into his room, his close aides were informed that Advani was staying in the same hotel.

Security men from the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) on duty with Gandhi, had got to know this through their interaction with the National Security Guards (NSG) protecting Advani. The information was enough to set in motion a flurry of activity. First the information was verified both at official and unofficial levels.

After that it fell upon the aides to avoid any clash of press briefing schedules for the two leaders on Wednesday morning. The venue too had to be different and there was always the possibility of the two bumping each other in the hotel lobby, something to be avoided at all costs!

In the morning due care was taken to ensure their entourages did not start at the same time. While it was business as usual for a seasoned Adavni, things were different for Rahul and co.

Things didn’t end well for Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal though; he was blamed for the goof-up.

It would seem the minister’s efforts to get into the Congress crown prince’s good books went astray.