Sonia, Rahul take bus ride to Surajkund for party meet

However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is bound by the security protocol of the blue book, was an exception when he travelled by his usual convoy of cars to the picnic town in Haryana, about 25km from the heart of Delhi.

Security vehicles, some with jammers, were part of the VVIP convoy.

Sonia Gandhi, the Congrress President, and Rahul Gandhi, who has been billed as the number two in the party, travelled in the same bus occupying the front seats taking the 'aam aadmi' ride.

Union Ministers, including A K Antony, P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad and C P Joshi and senior party leaders Ahmed Patel and Ambika Soni were in the same bus taken by the Gandhis.

Congress had utilised bus rides by local leaders as part of strategy to project a picture of unity and to connect with the common man during state assembly elections in the past.

Party sources said the dialogue meeting (Samvad Baithak) will virtually set the agenda for the larger brainstorming at Chintan Shivir which is likely to be organised in January next year.

The dialogue session came after the public meeting here on November 4, which saw Sonia and Rahul strongly backing the economic reform measures initiated by the Prime Minister.