When Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited a private museum in Goa

PANAJI: Congress party President Sonia Gandhi's visit to a private museum in South Goa took the staff of the facility by surprise.

Gandhi, who was on a private visit to Goa, yesterday walked into the Goa Chitra Museum located in Benaulim village, 40 km from here, at 4 pm without any prior intimation.

The Congress President left for Delhi today after her week-long visit to the state.


"In the morning, the security of a starred hotel had come to purchase the tickets and said that some special guest is going to visit. They never told that she is going to come," Victor Hugo Gomes, founder of the museum, said.

He said she was taken around by a guide who explained her various artefacts on display at this ethnography museum.

"She took interest in all the artefacts and was there for around 40 minutes. She saw the entire place and also inquired whether this is government or a private initiative," he added.

Gomes said that there was no VVIP fanfare around her visit.

"That is the respect a cultural centre should get," he added.

A restorer by profession, Gomes said that during the recently held BRICS, several heads of the State came to the Benaulim village (which hosted the event) but none visited the museum.

"I am very-very happy that Sonia Gandhi showed interest in such cultural centre," he said recalling how former Union Minister Kumari Selja too had visited the museum in the past without making any air about her VVIP status.