No time for celebration: Sonia tells partymen

Monday: Congress wins Assembly elections in three states

Tuesday: Sonia Gandhi’s birthday

The first two days of this week could have been an early Christmas celebration for Congress leaders and supporters. But it was Sonia Gandhi who issued strict instructions immediately after she got the news of her party’s electoral victory in three states on Monday, that there would be no celebrations as the nation was still mourning lives lost in the Mumbai terror attack.

So, on Tuesday, while a host of ministers and leaders wanted to meet and greet their supreme leader on her 62nd birthday, Gandhi didn’t give any appointments. The lone minister who met her today was Home Minister P Chidambaram, and that too on official purpose. According to Congress sources, Chidambaram went to 10 Janpath to brief her about his plans to combat terror. The home minister is expected to present them in the Parliament session beginning tomorrow.

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi had asked him to present this plan, he wanted to discuss it with her before going to Parliament.

Usually, the Congress leaders and family loyalists celebrate her birthday with much fanfare. Local leaders arrange musical troops which start playing drums and other musical instruments since morning, choking the Akbar Road.

Thousands of people came with garlands and bouquets to greet their leader today, but Gandhi remained inside. Akbar Road wore a deserted look. Rahul Gandhi reached his mother’s residence in the morning, driving his own car. But after that there was no VIP movement.

While Chidambaram met her later in the day, other ministers had to control their emotions and greet her through cards. Senior ministers dispatched birthday cards through their aides who handed them over to the security guards posted at the entrance of 10 Janpath.

A group of Congressmen came from Tamil Nadu to greet Gandhi but was turned away. Later, a group of women from Kalkaji patiently waited for almost an hour with the hope of meeting her. They too were not allowed to enter 10 Janpath. Shanti Devi, one of the women visitors, carried the rose bouquet for Gandhi back to her home. “Why should I hand it over to security guards when I couldn’t meet her? I will give it to my daughter instead,” she said.