'Rahul Gandhi's absence in campaign political move?' asks Anurag Thakur

Senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Sunday took a dig at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, wondering whether the party had kept him away from campaigning in the Himachal Pradesh elections as part of a strategy.

The state voted on Saturday where the Congress is keen to defeat the BJP government led by Jai Ram Thakur.

"We have to understand whether it was part of a strategy that Rahul Gandhi was kept away from elections on the pretext of the Bharat Jodo Yatra or whether it was a political move," the information and broadcasting minister told reporters.

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Only the Congress can shed light on why a prominent leader of the party had not campaigned in the elections, which form an important aspect of democracy, he said.

"This is the same leader who was never seen in Uttar Pradesh after he lost the election from there. That the Congress took three years to elect its president, speaks volumes about the condition the party is in," the BJP leader said.

Gandhi embarked on the 150-day Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari on September 7 and is expected to traverse over 3,570 km across 12 states to reach Srinagar in January.