NEW DELHI, January 21: Betraying the ongoing state of confusion and mismanagement in the Congress, its president Sitaram Kesri today flew half-way to Ranchi to address his first joint election rally with Sonia Gandhi, only to return to Delhi after an hour. To cover up the embarrassment, the Congress claimed that Kesri's chartered aircraft did not take off in the first place as it had developed a technical snag. Convenor of the party's campaign committee, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said: ``Kesri waited for about four hours at the airport but the snag could not be rectified. Another plane was arranged in the afternoon but by then it was too late. Had he gone by the second flight, he would not have made it to the rally in time.''But airport officials contradict this version. Said the station manager of NEPC (Kesri had boarded their chartered aircraft VT NEA): `` At about 2.50 pm, an hour after the plane took off, Kesri decided that he will not be able to make it to the rally in time. He said he would rather receiveSonia Gandhi in Delhi in the evening on her return from Ranchi.''According to some airport officials, however, there was a clear-cut message from the pilot that Kesri was feeling unwell and therefore had asked to be flown back to Delhi.``We even arranged an ambulance for him near the runway. But Kesri came to the building in his own vehicle and left after relaxing in the lounge for a few minutes,'' said an official on condition of anonymity.Earlier in the day, the aircraft of India International Airways scheduled to fly Kesri to Ranchi did develop a snag and was grounded for a few hours. But Congressmen arranged the second aircraft from NEPC to enable him to attend the rally.Kesri himself was not available for comment. But there are explanations galore. One argument making the rounds in Congress circles is that Kesri got cold feet at the last moment because he did not want to share the dais with Sonia. According to another senior Congressman, it was the fear of facing ridicule at the hands of hisbete noire Jagannath Mishra in his own State that made Kesri change his mind mid-air. Mishra's supporters, it is learnt, had threatened to disrupt the rally if it was attended by Kesri.What added to all this speculation was curiously the Congress chose to down play Kesri's absence in Ranchi. ÿ
