After Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra invited BJP MP Anil Baluni over tea, he politely declined, citing health grounds. However, he promised the Congress leader a sumptuous traditional Uttarakhand meal, once he shifts to 35 Lodhi Estate, Vadra's bungalow, that was recently allowed to him.
Baluni promised Gandhi a meal consisting of delicacies like 'Manduve ke Roti', 'Jhangore ki kheer' (both made of millets), Pahadi raita and 'Bhatt ke Chutkani' (black beans daal), once the BJP's media in charge is in his new residence.
Thanking her for her invite, Baluni cited the cancer treatment he underwent in Mumbai which requires him to be in isolation for some more time before he can venture out.
Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, Priyanka Gandhi spoke to Baluni over the phone. She took to Twitter to say: "Spoke to Anil Baluni and his wife I pray for their health and prosperity".
"Wishes to them for the new house and hope that they will also get the same happiness that I and family have got," she added.
The Congress leader was asked by the government on 1 July to vacate the government accommodation by 1 August as she was no longer on the list of Special Protection Group protectors.
The process of handing over the bungalow to the CPWD and the Estate Department would begin soon, said a close aide of Priyanka Gandhi.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, in its 30 June communication, had said that Priyanka Gandhi had been assigned 'Z plus' security with a CRPF cover on an all-India basis, which didn't have any provision for allotment or retention of the government accommodation.
This sparked off a political row with many Congress leaders calling it "vendetta". However, what created a political fight ended on a rare note of civility and mutual respect on Monday, between two senior leaders of the ruling BJP and opposition Congress. However, what remains to be seen though, will Priyanka Gandhi accept Baluni's invite for a mouthwatering 'pahadi' meal.
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