Chasing the son

Select tribals in Lanjigarh got to meet Congress’ rising star, General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, during his dramatic visit days but several loyal party functionaries in neighbouring Chhattisgarh missed the opportunity despite their best efforts. Gandhi’s special aircraft was supposed to refuel at Visakhapatnam but was diverted to Raipur, Chhattisgarh’s capital, owing to bad weather. This information was urgently conveyed to state Congress officials and several of them hotfooted it to the airport, 16 km from the city, with the usual complement of garlands and sweets only to discover that Gandhi’s plane took off after a 20-minute stopover.