During the trip to the Tirumala temple in Tirupati on Friday, Rahul Gandhi’s nephew caused a flutter of a different kind. While many noted the teenager’s presence during the climb spread along a serpentine alley of 3500 steps along a 9-km long road, behind the scenes Gandhi’s security detail lost many a heartbeat with the teenager missing for a few minutes. 

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Gandhi’s nephew Raihan Vadra was accompanied by a friend, both of whom trudged along the climb along with the Congress president. But at some point, unable to keep up with Gandhi’s pace, the whereabouts of Vadra were unknown to Congress workers and Gandhi’s security detail, leading to panic. 

Vadra’s phone was unreachable for a while, leading the security personnel and workers into a tizzy. It was only when they reached Vadra via his phone that they all heaved a sigh of relief. 

However, the peace was short-lived, as soon enough Vadra’s friend, to went missing for a while. Those present in the venue told DNA that the phone of Vadra’s friend was switched off leading to widespread panic. The team then sent two sets of people, one upstairs and another downstairs to find the friend, who was tracked down after 20 minutes or so, much to the relief of all. 

Gandhi’s decision to climb the temple, sources said, was let known to many in the party much later, and hence the trek was not sanitised by the SPGs, which is usually the norm. The trudge intersects with the road at several points, and at five such points Congress workers stationed cars with refreshments for Gandhi. Vadra’s friend was then taken in one of the cars to where the group was standing for him. 

“Had it not been for the turn of events, a lot of us would have lost our jobs,” said a source.