What explains the apparent confusion of Rahul Gandhi's missed appointment with Ralegan Siddhi's sarpanch and others?

The whole world knew about a meeting between the sarpanch of Anna Hazare’s village, Ralegan Siddhi, and Rahul Gandhi scheduled for earlier on Tuesday. However, it transpires that no one told Rahul Gandhi about the meeting. Anna Hazare’s team flew to New Delhi, only to discover that there was no meeting.

The Congress claims that it was a miscommunication. Reports IBNLive, Congress from Idukki PT Thomas clarified later and said, "There was a communication gap from my office for which I apologised."

The aggrieved team from Ralegan Siddhi is quite certain there was a scheduled appointment. "We have said in our letter seeking appointment with Gandhi that we want to meet him, as suggested by the MP. We were contacted by Thomas’ office several times. Even Rahul Gandhi’s office called the sarpanch several times," Suresh Pathare, a close aide of Hazare, told reporters in New Delhi.

On the confusion, IBNLive reports quotes Thomas thus: “When I had visited Ralegaon Siddhi in September, they had expressed the desire to meet Rahul Gandhi. I had told them to send a request; the request was addressed to me. I had forwarded the request to Rahul Gandhi’s office and they said they will give time as and when Rahul is free. There is no appointment scheduled as of now, but I will try," said Thomas.

How did Thomas and Rahul Gandhi’s office not know that the sarpanch was coming to Delhi for a meeting with Rahul Gandhi, as the 'news' was reported extensively?

For example, The Wall Street Journal’s blog on news from India carried this: “Ralegan calling: Anna Hazare sends emissary to Rahul Gandhi. Team Anna is busy battling the Congress over its Jan Lokpal draft Bill, but in some Track 2 diplomacy, Anna Hazare has sent the sarpanch of his Ralegan Siddhi village to meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi."

One conclusion that one can draw from this sorry episode is that members of the party leading the coalition at the Centre do not consume media.

The other conclusion that one can draw is that Rahul Gandhi is a very busy man. "I had forwarded the request to Rahul Gandhi's office and they said they will give time as and when Rahul is free," says Thomas. Thomas had visited Ralegan Siddhi in September, and Rahul Gandhi has not been 'free' since then?

Which begs the questions: what does Rahul Gandhi do that keeps him so busy that he cannot find time to meet close associates of the man who has the potential to be the nemesis of his party? What does he do each morning – head out to where? Meet whom? What are the momentous meetings he has each day that keeps him so preoccupied?

Gandhi's obviously so busy that he doesn't read newspapers, doesn't watch news television and doesn't visit news websites – else he would surely have expected the team, even if he was surprised by the news of the 'appointment' which he had no clue of.

In which case he could have, simply, had someone in his office, perhaps Thomas, call up and explain that there was, indeed, no appointment.

As things stand, it’s difficult to buy the explanation that Rahul Gandhi has been so busy. It's easier to see this incident as another expression of an arrogant Congress, another public relations faux pas by a party which seems to excel at it.