To make the claim emphatic, Rahul Gandhi's name figured among the prominent list of star campaigners in both Maharashtra and Haryana
Has Rahul Gandhi deserted the party during crucial assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra where the Congress is fighting a battle of survival among wide spread dissensions?
No, said Congress sources, asserting that he would be very leading the party's campaign with other leaders and will be in Haryana on October 11, a full 10 days ahead of the polling day.
They also said that he would also be available for the poll campaign in Maharashtra. To make the claim emphatic, Rahul Gandhi's name figured among the prominent list of star campaigners in both Maharashtra and Haryana.
Incidentally, the Congress did not say anything or put up a statement about Rahul Gandhi's whereabouts despite BJP taking potshots at him for leaving the party in the lurch. Rahul, apparently left for Cambodia on a Vistara flight on Saturday.
The Congress is facing grave internal feud in Haryana after the unceremonial ouster of state President Ashok Tanwar who has also resigned from the party. In Maharashtra too, the party is facing crisis after its former Mumbai chief Sanjay Nirupam claimed that the Congress is sidelining those who have worked hard for the party.
Tanwar, Nirupam and Tripura's former acting President of Congress, Pradyot Debbarma have accused the party of sidelining Rahul Gandhi loyalists.
However, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi came out in defence of Rahul Gandhi. In a tweet he said that "the personal should not be mixed with the public life of an individual. We need to entitle everybody an eternal sense of liberty and privacy."
“After all, this is the basic and outlining principle of progressive and liberal democracy,” Singhvi said.
The BJP was quick to take a jibe at the Congress leader, saying the election campaign would suffer in the absence of the “star campaigner”. Tweeting from its official handle, BJP Karnataka mocked him, saying, “Now who will talk about ‘Sona from Aloo in Ambala’ and ‘Mobiles Made in Aurangabad’?”
IN DEFENCE
Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s statement comes just a day after it was reported that Rahul Gandhi had left for Bangkok at a time when crucial assembly elections were due in three states — Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. Singhvi’s clarification has not gone down well with people who have doubted whether the party is serious in taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming elections
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