Rahul Gandhi meets Varun Gandhi at Kedarnath
New Delhi, Nov 7: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his cousin Varun Gandhi, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, had a brief meeting at the Kedarnath temple on Tuesday where both had gone to offer prayers, sources said.
The meeting between the cousins, who are rarely seen together in public, triggered speculation in some quarters over Varun Gandhi's political future.
Varun Gandhi, the son of Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi, has not been seen at key BJP meets in recent months and his comments on crucial issues, including those on the now-repealed farm laws, have sometimes been at variance with the party's stand.
Sources told PTI that the Gandhis met briefly outside the revered shrine and exchanged pleasantries. They said the meeting was "very short" and "warm one".
Rahul Gandhi was "very happy" to meet Varun's daughter, they said, adding though the two cousins do not meet, they have maintained "good and civil" ties.
The sources also said that nothing political was discussed at the meeting.
During a press conference last year, when asked whether Varun Gandhi would be welcome in the Congress, Rahul Gandhi said though anybody was welcome, Varun has "adopted the ideology of the BJP/RSS" against which the Congress was fighting.
Rahul Gandhi has been at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand for the last three days, while Varun Gandhi visited the temple dedicated to Lord Shiva along with his family on Tuesday.
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Patna-bound IndiGo flight makes emergency landing at Lucknow due to bad weather
Lucknow (PTI): Adverse weather forced an IndiGo Kolkata-Patna flight to make an emergency landing at Lucknow airport on Friday, airport sources said.
According to airport officials, weather conditions in Patna deteriorated suddenly on Friday afternoon, affecting flight operations.
IndiGo flight 6E 6917 from Kolkata, which was scheduled to land in Patna at 3.50 pm, could not land due to bad weather and kept circling in the air after failing to get clearance from air traffic control, they said.
The flight was later diverted to Lucknow and landed safely at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at around 5.15 pm. There were 180 passengers and six crew members on board, officials said.
The aircraft was later allowed to depart for Patna after weather conditions improved.
