Kolkata: Just a few hours after the Congress' Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra arrived in West Bengal from neighbouring Assam on Thursday morning, party leader Rahul Gandhi opted to fly back to Delhi in the afternoon.
Rahul Gandhi flew to the national capital in a special flight. Although the specific cause for the Congress leader's return to Delhi has yet to be revealed, there are rumours in the party's state unit that the development was prompted by an urgent call from his mother Sonia Gandhi.
There are also rumours of a sudden deterioration in the medical condition of Sonia Gandhi, which prompted Rahul Gandhi to fly back to Delhi.
However, an All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesman confirmed that Rahul Gandhi will be back in the state on Sunday morning and join the Yatra team at Falakata in Alipurduar district.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered West Bengal on Thursday morning through Boxirhat in Cooch Behar district. Rahul Gandhi was welcomed there by senior Congress leaders, including the state unit chief and five-time Lok Sabha MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Already, the state Congress leadership has started facing some administrative hurdles in implementing the various programmes of the rally and the party leaders apprehend similar hurdles in the coming days during the rally’s tenure in West Bengal.
Incidentally, on Wednesday, Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made an official announcement stating that her party would go solo in all 42 Parliamentary seats in West Bengal in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The CPI(M) leadership, meanwhile, has confirmed its participation in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
With inputs from IANS