Ill-timed?: Rahul’s Italy visit raises eyebrows as parties gear up for polls
The timing of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s departure to Italy, where his maternal grandmother lives, just when the elections to state assemblies are round the corner, has drawn flak from several quarters.
It is being speculated that the rally in Punjab’s Moga, which Rahul was slated to attend on January 3, may be postponed as he may not return in time.
For the Congress, which has been grappling with embarrassing poll routs and desertion of leaders, the absentia of a prominent leader during election campaigning in a state where it stands a fair chance to be back in power, is concerning. Rahul’s absence is also feared to further dent the image of the party, which is already trying to iron out the infighting issue within leaders in Punjab.
Not to mention how his radio silence from the campaign trail is a stark contrast to the bustle of political parties in poll bound states, notably the vigorous canvassing carried out by the BJP and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.
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The polls to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur are expected to be announced by January 2022.
The Congress, however, has defended its leader by stating that he is on a short trip and will be back in time to attend the Moga rally.
“Rahul Gandhi is on a brief personal visit. BJP and its friends in the media should not spread unnecessary rumors,” party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
This, however, is not the first time the Gandhi scion was absent in action when his party needed his services.
Rahul left for a short trip to London days before the Winter Session this year just to be back a day ahead of the Parliament session. He reportedly has spent 25 days abroad this year in the course of four such trips, drawing criticism not only from BJP, but also from party insiders.
In 2019 Rahul stepped down from the post of the Congress president following the party’s embarrassing rout in the Lok Sabha elections. He, however, stayed away from the political scene after that and was absent in Parliament for the first week of the Winter Session that year.
The same year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha that the Congress leader has travelled abroad at least 247 times between 2015 and 2019 without informing the SPG, making it an average of 62 trips a year and five trips a month.
In October 2019, Rahul cut short his campaigns and left for Bangkok, a fortnight ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.
In early 2020, when the country was in the midst of a raging anti-CAA protest, Rahul was on a trip to South Korea. His delegation reportedly left just hours before the protest in Jamia Milia Islamia University turned violent. The Congress, in Rahul’s defence, had said the trip was planned in advance. Rahul also missed out the last leg of the election campaign in Jharkhand due to the tour, leaving it to his sister Priyanka to make up for his absence in a rally in Pakur.
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In December that year, the Congress leader left for Italy a day before the 136th foundation day of the party, leaving party leaders fumbling for answer for his absence. The Congress later said that the leader was not on a holiday and was in Italy to meet an ailing relative and his grandmother.
The Wayanad MP, who has been vocal about his support for farmers protesting against the farm laws, came under severe criticism for leaving for Italy in December 2020, when hundreds of farmers were sitting in biting cold at the borders of Delhi.
