Amid reports that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has travelled to Vietnam, the BJP has said the Leader of the Opposition had flown abroad to party on New Year while the nation was mourning the loss of former Prime Minister and Congress veteran Dr Manmohan Singh. Hitting back, Congress MP B Manickam Tagore has questioned why Mr Gandhi's private travel bothers the BJP.
The attack and the counter-attack are playing out against the backdrop of the massive political row surrounding the cremation of the former Prime Minister. The Congress has alleged that the ruling BJP had humiliated Dr Singh by organising the cremation at Nigambodh Ghat. The BJP has trashed these allegations and said the Narendra Modi government had provided a state funeral to the former Prime Minister and done everything required to honour his legacy.
Amid the heated row, Mr Gandhi's trip gave the BJP fresh ammo to target the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "The country is in mourning. The government has announced seven days of national mourning. As expected from Rahul Gandhi, we have received information that he has left for tourism and to party. You will remember that after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, newspapers had reported how Rahul Gandhi partied all night. And today, he does not care about honouring Dr Manmohan Singh. He just wants to play politics on it."
In the aftermath of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, multiple reports had said Mr Gandhi, then 38, partied all night at a farmhouse on Delhi's outskirts to celebrate his friend Samir Sharma's wedding.
Congress MP Tagore countered the BJP's charge and termed it "take diversion" politics. "When will the Sanghis stop this 'Take Diversion' politics? The way Modi denied Dr Saheb a place for cremation on the Yamuna banks and how his ministers cornered Dr Saheb's family is shameful. If Mr Gandhi travel privately, why does it bother you? Get well in New Year," the Virudhunagar MP said in a post on X.
Congress MP Tariq Anwar said Mr Gandhi's trip was pre-planned. "He paid his tribute to Dr Singh and was present during the proceedings," he told news agency IANS.
Mr Poonawalla also said top Congress leaders were missing when the ashes of Dr Singh were being immersed in the Yamuna. "No Congress leader was present there, none from the first family. If someone insulted Dr Singh, it is the Congress and Gandhi family."
Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera has, however, said that party leaders skipped the ashes immersion to give privacy to the family.
"It was felt that since the family did not get any privacy at the time of the cremation and some extended family members could not reach the pyre site, it would be appropriate to give them some privacy for the Phool Chunana and the immersion of the ashes which is an emotionally painful and difficult ceremony for close family members," Mr Khera said in a statement.
