Sonia Gandhi stays away to ‘keep safe distance’ from Sena

New Delhi: In a bid to keep a “safe distance” from the Shiv Sena-led government, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi decided to skip the swearing-in-ceremony in Mumbai Thursday.

While officially the Congress claimed Mrs Gandhi had to skip the ceremony due to health reasons, sources in the party said the Congress chief at this juncture wanted to “maintain a   distance” as the party wasn’t yet “certain” about the “stability of the alliance”, and the “agenda of the Sena”, despite the common minimum programme agreed upon.

Mrs Gandhi, however, sent a letter to Mr Uddhav congratulating him, and regretting her inability to attend the event.