The political heat has been long-simmering in Punjab amid the change of guard, the high command of the Congress party, that rules Punjab, has been finding time for a retreat and when the new Chief Minister had taken the oath in Punjab on Monday, the Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had arrived in Shimla as it's her time for a holiday, when the party is in a desperate need to fix the political crisis in the state, that is just five months ahead of the crucial assembly polls. 

The Congress has been campaigning to form a united opposition for the next Lok Sabha polls but the party's high command is seemingly packing the stuff for a long tour at the wrong time. The Congress is yet to unfold full-fledged preparations for the upcoming assembly polls in the states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Winning Uttar Pradesh will be a turning point for Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who is going to lead the party in Uttar Pradesh, is now leading the party's high command in its holidaying season. 

Last week, when Captain Amarinder Singh had decided to resign as Punjab Chief Minister by alleging that he was humiliated by the Congress party, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was holidaying at her bungalow in Shimla with the instruction to the party cadres not to meet her. After two days, when Punjab witnessed the change of guard, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had reached Shimla on Monday to join her daughter's holidaying retreat. According to reports, the Congress president had reached Chharabra, a high-security area in Shimla, to stay with her daughter at her bungalow. 

Senior security and state CID officials had confirmed the arrival of Sonia Gandhi at 10.30 am and she drove by road via Parwanoo- Shimla National Highway and proper traffic arrangements were already made to provide her with a hassle-free trip. Sonia Gandhi flew to Chandigarh from Delhi early morning on Monday and drove straight from the airport, with neither making a stopover nor meeting any leaders of Congress or in the party's Punjab unit. It has been reported that Sonia Gandhi will be staying in Shimla for the next four days and no official engagements have been scheduled. 

It is expected that Sonia Gandhi will also take a trip to Oberai's five-star resort in Shimla. For Gandhis, holidaying will be on their agenda for every year and Priyanka Gandhi, along with her children and mother, had been regularly visiting Shimla and staying at the palatial bungalow. Rahul Gandhi had attended the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister in Punjab on Monday and he will likely be joining his family in Shimla by Monday evening.