Congress president skips opposition meet as speculation mounts that he is in Europe. A section of party is upset by his absence.   

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi is missing in action — again. The Congress president hasn’t been seen since his visit to Dubai to interact with the Indian diaspora there on 11 January.

A section of the party’s leaders is upset by his vanishing act as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already hit the campaign trail and the Congress’ prospective allies in the states are waiting for Gandhi to firm up the seat-sharing modalities.

It’s also “bad optics” as the BJP has used the Congress president’s foreign vacations to project him as a non-serious leader, said a party functionary.

Most Congress leaders are clueless about their president’s whereabouts while some of them have been told that he was “taking a few days off” before the gruelling Lok Sabha campaign.

After much public criticism in the past, Gandhi had started the practice of announcing his visits on his Twitter handle whenever he accompanied his mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for medical check-ups abroad. He has chosen to keep his latest visit a private affair.

He and his mother skipped an opposition rally in Kolkata Saturday, deputing senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Abhishek Manu Singhvi to represent the party at the event.

Party spokesman Singhvi, however, accused the BJP of playing up Gandhi’s absence to mask its shortcomings.

“I can fully understand the anxiety frustration and fear of the BJP which, being bereft of all issues and unable to answer on agriculture distress, joblessness, Rafale among others, is now reduced to asking questions about Gandhi’s whereabouts,” he told ThePrint.

“We are not here to answer questions about his personal movements and we do not do so,” Singhvi said.

He did, however, detail Gandhi’s itinerary for the coming week.

“To expose the utter bankruptcy of the BJP as far as the real and relevant issues are concerned, let me just point out that on 23-24 of this month he is in Amethi, on the 25th he is in Odisha, on the 26th at the Republic Day (function) and on the 28th, he will address a workers’ meeting in Kerala,” Singhvi added. “Would the BJP now please answer my questions listed above pending for two years?”

Another senior Congress leader said Gandhi skipped the opposition meet as he didn’t want to be seen with Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

“He didn’t wish to share the stage with Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati soon after the two declared their alliance in Uttar Pradesh and kept the Congress out of it. He was, however, aware that this would be made into an unnecessary issue, which is why he wrote to Mamata Banerjee,” the Congress leader said.

A number of senior party leaders, however, are upset by Gandhi’s absence, especially when the party has gained momentum following its wins in the recent assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

Also read: Rahul Gandhi writes letter of support to ‘Mamata Di’ for Kolkata rally

Twitter handle active

While there is little clarity on Gandhi’s whereabouts, his Twitter handle has been buzzing, with the Congress president taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Your Highness, The cries for help are the cries of millions of unemployed youth; of farmers in distress; of oppresses Dalits & Adivasis; of persecuted minorities; of small businessmen in ruin, begging to be freed from your tyranny & incompetence. In 100 days they will be free,” he tweeted Sunday evening.

This is not the first time that Gandhi has gone missing at a crucial time for the party. Last year, Gandhi had taken to Twitter, announcing that he would be accompanying his mother for her “annual medical check-up” abroad.

Similarly, in December 2016, he had taken a few days off to celebrate New Year’s Eve at a time when the crucial ticket distribution for the Punjab election was due.

Gandhi had gone to Europe in December 2015 just before the Assam assembly elections in April 2016. In 2014, when the Congress has suffered one of its major defeats and was reduced to just 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi went abroad.

ThePrint’s YouTube channel is now active and buzzing. Please subscribe here.