NEW DELHI: Has former Congress president Rahul Gandhi gone AWOL again? Reports that he left for a trip to South East Asia on Saturday night just two weeks ahead of the Assembly polls to Maharashtra and Haryana led to the BJP mocking him.
This is Rahul’s third visit abroad after the Lok Sabha election debacle in May, after which he resigned as party chief.
The Congress responded saying that the “personal should not be mixed with the public life of an individual”.
“We need to entitle everybody an eternal sense of liberty and privacy … #RahulGandhi #Bangkok,” Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted.
Other sources said he had left for Cambodia to attend a five-day meditation camp.
The Congress claimed that Rahul is likely to be back around October 11, after which he will start his campaign.
After the Lok Sabha debacle, the party is facing an uphill task in both states, with the cadre demoralised due to infighting.
In Maharashtra, ex-Mumbai party chief Sanjay Nirupam has said he has been sidelined and might leave the party.
His men sidelined
It might not be a surprise if Rahul is sulking as his supporters are being sidelined by Cong’s old guard after Sonia took over. Ex-Haryana party chief Ashok Tanwar, who quit Cong on Saturday, claimed there was a plot to remove those Rahul groomed