Sonia's sendoff a personal affair: PMO

Even as the Congress awaits the return of party chief Sonia Gandhi from Moscow, the "breach of protocol" controversy surrounding her see-off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has refused to die down.

The Congress was today forced to come out and defend Gandhi's use of a chartered Reliance aircraft for her trip to Russia. The party said it was immaterial what aircraft Gandhi used for flying to Russia since the trip was paid for.

"The Congress chief always travels by a chartered plane. We have paid for the services used. There is no issue here," Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said.

He said if the Congress started questioning what planes leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) such as LK Advani and AB Vajpayee flew in, then their nexus with industrial houses would become apparent.

The Prime Minister's Office, however, said Manmohan Singh went to see off Gandhi in his "personal" capacity and not in his capacity as the Prime Minister.

When asked in what capacity Minister for External Affairs K Natwar Singh had traveled with Gandhi, Sharma left the question unanswered. However, he indicated that Singh was a senior Congress leader and that justified his being on the same trip with Gandhi.

Though Gandhi took the Reliance group's Bombardier aircraft, Natwar Singh had flown on the Russian commercial carrier Aeroflot.

However, the controversy surrounding Gandhi's see-off by Prime Minister was not raised either by the BJP nor commented upon by the Congress today.

The BJP had on Wednesday claimed that the Prime Minister's decision to see Gandhi off constituted a "breach of protocol" since Gandhi held cabinet rank as the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the National Advisory Council (NAC).

The Congress was defensive about the charge, with while the Congress spokes-person said everything would have to be "checked" with Gandhi's office.