The BJP on Wednesday took a jab at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on his upcoming trip to Germany amid the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. The ruling party mocked Gandhi as the “leader of partying”, prompting a reaction from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent international visits.
Rahul Gandhi will embark on a trip to Berlin from Dec 15 to 20, during which he is expected to meet German government officials and engage with the Indian diaspora, according to the Indian Overseas Congress.
The Winter Session will conclude on December 19.
In a post on X, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala called Rahul Gandhi, “leader of partying, leader of paryatan (tourism).”
He also criticised Congress leaders for resorting to “silly whataboutery” in defence and questioned Rahul Gandhi’s agenda.
“Bharat Badnami again? Where was he during the Bihar elections? Just another vacay. Normal people take vacations between work sessions—this man seems to work between two vacation sessions,” he added.
However, Congress MP and Rahul Gandhi’s sister, Priyanka Gandhi, was quick to rebut Poonawalla’s jibe, taking a dig at the Prime Minister’s own foreign trips in the process.
“Modi ji spends almost half of his working time outside the country. Why are they raising questions about the Leader of the Opposition’s visit?” she told reporters outside Parliament.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi also fired back at the BJP spokesperson, saying, “When the BJP does not have an answer to Rahul Gandhi’s questions, their only recourse is to confuse the public and tarnish his image.”
Poonawala’s mockery of Rahul Gandhi came a day after the latter’s no-holds-barred attack against the Centre during a discussion on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha.
On Tuesday, the Congress MP accused the BJP and the Election Commission of “colluding to destroy” India’s democracy and “rob people of their voice.”
Speaking on election reforms, he claimed the BJP is “directing and using” the Election Commission to undermine democratic processes.
Gandhi suggested several measures, including providing machine-readable voter lists to all parties a month before elections, reversing the law that allows CCTV footage to be destroyed after 45 days, giving parties access to EVMs, and amending the law that lets election commissioners act without accountability.
