A silk badge and sari which will be gifted to Sonia by the Khan Chowdhurys. Picture by Amit Datta

Malda, April 27: Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury and Ruby Noor will have to make a tough choice tomorrow — either attend the public meeting at Sujapur addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi or have lunch with her at their Kotwali residence.

There will be no room for Abu Hasem, the Malda MP, and Noor, the Sujapur MLA and district congress president, in Sonia’s helicopter, which will whisk her away from Sujapur to the Kotwali residence of the late A.B.A Ghani Khan Chowdhury. The siblings of Ghani Khan had hoped to be Sonia’s travel companions after the Sujapur meeting. But the Special Protection Group (SPG), which looks after her security, has shot the plan down.

Those who would be allowed on board the chopper are PCC president Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and AICC observer for Bengal Mohsina Kidwai.

The SPG has made it amply clear that there will be no more passengers in the AICC president’s helicopter.

Congress sources said the distance between Sujapur and Kotwali is about 25km, which the chopper will take a maximum of 10 minutes to cover. But Abu Hasem and Ruby Noor would not be able to cover the same distance by road and be back on time to receive Sonia for lunch.

“We had told the SPG that our presence is important at the Sujapur meeting which is a party programme. We should also be at our residence when Sioniaji arrives to pay her respect to Barkatda (Ghani Khan) and to have lunch with us,” Abu Hasem said today.

The Malda MP said he had told Pranab Mukherjee about the dilemma. “Pranabbabu told us to land up at Sujapur. I will see then what is to be done,” he said.

Chowdhury said they had thought of an alternative plan. “If worse comes to worse, we will receive Soniaji at Sujapur, as protocol demands, and then rush back to Kotwali before the meeting begins.”

District magistrate Chittaranjan Das said Sonia was expected to be in Malda from 11am-1.30pm. Movement of vehicles on NH34 skirting the Sujapur area will be stopped from 9am-1pm. But the MP and the MLA will be allowed to drive back to Kotwali.