JOIN US Amid questions from its own leaders and criticism from other parties, the Congress on Tuesday said that its vice-president Rahul Gandhi had gone on leave for two weeks.
The timing of the Rahul’s leave of absence has stumped Congress leaders, especially in the backdrop of the Budget Session and the party’s agitation against the Modi government’s “draconian” Land Ordinance. Even after being accosted in Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi refused to respond to questions on whether Rahul had gone on leave in a fit of anger as he had not been allowed to re-structure the party as he wished.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh questioned the timing of Rahul’s leave but defended the decision to introspect in the wake of successive electoral losses. “Only timing could have been better,” Singh said. His remarks were immediately disowned by the Congress as “personal”.