NEW DELHI: BJP on Monday stepped up its attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, demanding that he explain his recent foreign trip while also accusing him and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of neglecting the constituency after a landslide in Kerala’s Wayanad claimed eight lives.The landslide occurred on July 7 at the site of the Anakkampoyil-Meppadi twin-tube tunnel project, which is being built to connect Wayanad and Kozhikode districts.Launching a fresh attack, BJP IT department chief Amit Malviya questioned Rahul Gandhi’s overseas visit. “Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trip between 22 June and 13 July remains shrouded in mystery. Where did he go? Who did he meet? Who sponsored his travel and stay?” Malviya wrote on X.“These are legitimate questions that the Leader of the Opposition should come clean about. The public is entitled to know whether his overseas engagements involved meetings that could have a bearing on India’s political or strategic interests,” he added.“Does anyone know where Rahul Gandhi is? Which country is he holidaying in? Who is he with? Whom does he travel to meet so often? He has been away from India for an extended period, and no one knows his whereabouts,” Malviya had asked in another post on X.The BJP also questioned why neither Rahul , who earlier represented Wayanad in Parliament, nor Priyanka, the constituency’s current MP, had visited the affected area after the landslide.BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash said the visuals from Wayanad were “horrifying and deeply disturbing.” “It is a Congress government there, and the MPs are from the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi come to India only during holidays; otherwise, they mostly stay in Europe, the United States, or England…” he said.BJP spokesperson C R Kesavan further alleged that Priyanka, “the current MP from Wayanad, has totally neglected and abandoned Wayanad…”“It has been six days since the devastating landslide in Wayanad. Until now, it has claimed about eight lives, but Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has not even bothered to visit the constituency and meet the grieving families of the victims and console them. Instead, she has just done a token tweet… This was the same pattern when Rahul Gandhi represented Wayanad before…” he added.BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain also targeted the Congress leader, saying, “Rahul Gandhi is on vacation. He seems to be troubled by India’s heat, rain, and monsoon, and is busy travelling abroad…”Earlier on Sunday, BJP national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha had accused both Rahul and Priyanka Vadra of failing to stand with the affected families.“They are merely political tourists. Apart from a single condolence post on social media, neither of them has shown any interest in reaching out to the affected families. This is shameful and reflects that both of them are part-time politicians,” Sinha said.Sinha also claimed Rahul had been missing from public engagements for nearly two weeks and said three of his scheduled student outreach programmes had to be postponed due to his continued absence.The BJP also linked Rahul Gandhi’s absence to the postponement of the Congress’ proposed student outreach programme, “Chhatron Ki Goonj”. As per the campaign schedule released by the Congress, the rallies initiative were scheduled in Prayagraj on July 10, Patna on July 11 and Delhi on July 14, before the next major event in Dehradun.However, the BJP alleged that the programmes were deferred because Rahul extended his foreign visit and is expected to return only around July 17. The Congress has not officially disclosed the purpose of Rahul Gandhi’s foreign trip.Sinha said Rahul’s prolonged absence had raised questions, particularly with the Monsoon Session of Parliament set to begin on July 20.Earlier, Amit Malviya had also questioned the leader of opposition’s absence in a post on X on June 23. “Rahul Gandhi has gone abroad. Again. At a time when Parliament, party organisation, and public life demand constant engagement, his repeated departures raise an obvious question: what is so compelling that it keeps taking precedence over his responsibilities in India? One wonders,” Malviya wrote on X.The party further alleged that Rahul has remained missing from public events even as Congress faces internal challenges in states such as Punjab and with Parliament set to convene later this month.
