New Delhi, Dec. 23 :     Piping hot kebabs, haleem, biryani, sherbet, halwa, kheer and loads of other goodies at Sonia Gandhi?s iftar party failed to satisfy the 1,000-odd guests until the hostess herself made an appearance. Sonia came half-an-hour late and profusely apologised to one and all. The Congress president had been held up in the Lok Sabha which, after several adjournments, was meeting at 5:30 pm, coinciding with the breaking of fast in Delhi. Being the valedictory session, the leader of the Opposition was expected to be in the House in keeping with parliamentary custom. Not that the invitees were left unattended. Ahmad Patel, Ambika Soni, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mohsina Kidwai, Najma Heptullah and other senior Congress leaders played host till Sonia took over. Within minutes of her arrival, she made it a point to meet everyone even if it meant breaking the security ring around her. The Congress chief, though somewhat tired, appeared upbeat over the introduction of the women?s Bill in the Lok Sabha. ?I think it is a victory for women,? she said, even as party members credited her with forcing the government to table the contentious Bill. Railway minister Mamata Banerjee ? who has had a love-hate relationship with the Congress chief ? came and went without meeting ?Soniaji?. However, Union communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who happens to be Sonia?s neighbour on Janpath, stayed on till she returned from Parliament. Till late evening, there was no representation from the BJP ?except for Vinod Khanna ? as the iftar party was being held at the AICC headquarters at 24 Akbar Road. ?It is not common practice for the Prime Minister to visit rival political parties? offices,? a government functionary said, pointing out that H.D. Deve Gowda, too, had not turned up when Sitaram Kesri had hosted an iftar party at the same venue. The absence of Atal Behari Vajpayee and other BJP bigwigs was compensated by the presence of third force leaders Chandra Shekhar, I.K. Gujral, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, besides Shabana Azmi, Rajesh Khanna, Ashok Gehlot, Sitaram Kesri, P.V. Narasimha Rao and the entire Congress Working Committee.