FOR his critics, Rahul Gandhi has always been a reluctant politician. The former president of the Indian National Congress, the main national opposition party in India, has reportedly left for a foreign trip -- a personal visit to Europe -- and is likely to return on Sunday (17), ahead of the country's presidential election and the beginning of the monsoon session of the Parliament on Monday (18).
The 52-year-old leader's foreign trip is also happening at a time when his party is going through its worst phase in history. Recently, the party lost power in the key western Indian state of Maharashtra where it was a partner in the ruling coalition while in the neighbouring Goa, too, it is facing internal trouble. Earlier this year, the Congress lost power in the northern state of Punjab following an implosion.
Gandhi's frequent visits abroad, sometimes at important political moments, have given rise to questions over his commitment to taking up the leadership mantle. He had taken up as the president of the party in late 2017 but quit even before two years.
No remarks were immediately available from the grand-old party which aspires to beat popular prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general elections of 2024, NDTV reported.
Gandhi's reported foreign trip came into discussion all the more as it happened at a time when the Congress is scheduled to have a meeting on Thursday (14) about its own presidential elections too. The party is currently led by Gandhi's 75-year-old mother Sonia Gandhi who took over after the 2019 general election debacle.
The meeting on Thursday is also set to focus on plans for a 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' or 'Unite India Campaign' which is set to kick off on October 2, the birth date of Mahatma Gandhi.
However, Rahul Gandhi's absence at the meeting is bound to further fuel speculation about the leadership question.
The BJP has time and again targeted Gandhi over his foreign trips. In early May, he was seen at a nightclub in Kathmandu in neighbouring Nepal and pictures from the spot were released by BJP supporters. This also came in the wake of the Congress's poor results in the assembly elections in states such as Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, among others. The Congress defended Gandhi saying there was nothing wrong if he paid a personal visit to a journalist friend's wedding. He also visited the UK in late May and that also took place when elections to Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the Indian Parliament were taking place.
In fact, Gandhi had also left for Italy, a country from where his mother hails, in December last year, just months ahead of the 2022 elections.
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