Rahul Gandhi downplays ‘camaraderie’ with cousin Varun

New Delhi: Relationship between the two branches of the Gandhi Tree, that of Sonia-Rahul-Priyanka & Maneka-Varun, has been of much interest since long. It's a well known fact that the two do not get well together personally and politically but there have been stray instances of them crossing paths with each other, like the invite Varun Gandhi had extended to his aunt Sonia Gandhi during his marriage. The two cousin brothers were told to have attended the meeting of the Standing Committee on External Affairs together. They not only attended the meeting but seconded & agreed with each other on numerous points. Sources said there were occasions when Rahul nodded in agreement to certain points raised by Varun. Similarly, the BJP leader also concurred to points raised by Rahul. This came in as a surprise to many in the committee. However, when ABP News tried to seek Rahul’s view on it, the Congress VP sought to downplay it and stated "We were there for the meeting, nothing else..have not seen those reports". Clearly Rahul intended to convey that he had attended the meeting as a member of the committee much as BJP MP Varun Gandhi & nothing more must be read into it. Rahul may have downplayed the reports of camaraderie with Varun but the relationships between all the estranged cousins of the Gandhi family have always been a subject of interest to political observers. Whether between Rahul & Varun or between Varun & Priyanka who haven’t generally been seen taking on each other politically.