(From top) Rahul Gandhi, LK Advani

New Delhi, March 3: Some forgotten habits have survived the season of scandals and strife.

BJP veteran L.K. Advani today called up Rahul Gandhi to enquire about a fracture the Congress MP had suffered in his right leg during an exercise session.

His leg in a cast, Rahul is now on rest and had skipped Parliament on budget day.

“Yes, he tried quite a few times today to call Rahul. The call eventually went through,” said a source close to Advani.

This is the second time in recent weeks that Advani has communicated with a Nehru-Gandhi — he had expressed regret to Rahul’s mother Sonia for a black money allegation in a report by a task force the BJP leader had appointed.

Although separated by ideology and a big age gap, Advani and Rahul are no strangers to each other. Last November, Rahul had wished Advani a happy birthday and handed over a bouquet.

Rahul had learnt of Advani’s birth date by chance. After President Barack Obama’s speech in the Central Hall of Parliament, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul had been waiting for security personnel to unlatch the exit doors when Advani spotted them outside his chamber. He asked them in for tea and his daughter Pratibha told the guests that it was her father’s birthday.

The next day, Rahul called on Advani in his chamber in Parliament.

Advani was in touch with another Congress leader today but on a far less decorous matter. Advani met Pranab Mukherjee to discuss a House stalemate over Telangana and complain about the government’s inability to rein in the ruling party’s own MPs in the House.