Rahul Gandhi skips freedom fighters' memorial inauguration

In an embarrassment to the party leaders in Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi skipped the inauguration of a memorial for freedom fighters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Memorials for freedom fighters K E Mammen and P Gopinathan Nair were set up at the NIMS Hospital premises near Neyyatinkara on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram.

The organisers had allegedly informed that Gandhi would be inaugurating it on Sunday.

But even as Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through the locality he did not turn up for the inauguration of the memorial.

This led to controversy as families and friends of both the Gandhians, including the wife of late Gopinathan Nair, were waiting at the hospital premises for the function.

The function was attended by several Kerala Congress leaders including Kerala PCC president K Sudhakaran, and Shashi Tharoor.

Sudhakaran later apologised for the goof-up and promised the NIMS Managing Director that a separate function would be organised for the inauguration.

MP Shashi Tharoor criticised Gandhi for skipping the event, saying: "Such things affect the credibility."

The reason for Rahul not turning up for the event was however not yet known.

(With IANS inputs)