Sonia Gandhi Holds Iftar, Shares Table With Lalu and Sharad Yadav
NEW DELHI : Sonia Gandhi today hosted her first Iftar in three years, which saw the Congress president sharing a table with leaders of Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and its new-found ally Janata Dal (United). NCP leader Tariq Anwar was also seated at the same table.
Both Lalu and JD(U) Convenor Sharad Yadav were seated with Mrs Gandhi at the Iftar which was also attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.While Rahul was seated with diplomats, Dr Singh was on a separate table with former Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi and cine star Sharmila Tagore among others.
The fast-breaking feast during Ramzan is only the second big Iftar hosted this season after the one by President Pranab Mukherjee last week.
The Iftar by Mrs Gandhi, who did not hold the feast during last three years because of natural disaster or tragedy in the country, was organised at Ashoka Hotel and attended by political leaders, academicians, diplomats, religious leaders and journalists.
Those in attendance included former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Ambika Soni, JD(U) leader Prem Chand Gupta, Mrs Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel, Ajay Maken, Motilal Vora, Digvijay Singh, Jairam Ramesh, Anand Sharma, Shakeel Ahmed, Rajeev Shukla, Kumari Selja, Mohsina Kidwai, Karan Singh, CLP chief in Delhi Assembly Haroon Yusuf, DPCC president Arvinder Singh Lovely, Raj Babbar, Mohammed Azaharuddin and Mani Shankar Aiyar.Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was also present.
