The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a swipe at Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over his purported trip to Vietnam, saying the Congress leader is “tired of spreading lies” after his campaign against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, even as the Opposition said all protests have been put on hold in view of the festive season.
Taking to X, the BJP shared a purported video of Gandhi seated inside a business-class cabin of a flight. The INDIA bloc has been seeking Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and even held a series of protests in recent days. Gandhi was at the forefront of the protests and marches in Delhi, even as he and several other leaders were detained on several occasions.
“I’m tired of spreading lies… Let me go roam around Vietnam for a few days… Who would even find out?” it said.
The purported Vietnam visit also comes after Gandhi’s participation in the Congress’s Goa Rakhon Yatra in the poll-bound state. BJP spokesperson RP Singh accused Gandhi of repeatedly going abroad after participating in political campaigns. The Congress dismissed the BJP’s criticism as an unnecessary controversy. The BJP has often been critical of Gandhi’s frequent foreign tours.
Union home minister Amit Shah said Gandhi travelled abroad 156 times, of which 143 were made without SPG cover While debating on a bill to remove Special Protection Group (SPG) cover from the Gandhi family in 2019.
He is expected to be away for four days, according to reports. “After undertaking a yatra in Bihar, he went abroad on a holiday for two months,” he said, suggesting that the latest trip followed a familiar pattern. Former Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit said Gandhi’s foreign visits often involved interactions with students and intellectuals, and questioned why the BJP was making an issue of the trip.
