Elections
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is visiting Aspen in the US to attend a conference.
"Rahul needed a foreign vacation after holding two rallies and thinking hard about farmers," said the BJP's Sambit Patra and added in another jibe, "Gandhi has been sent for a forceful vacation as Nitish and Lalu were not comfortable with his presence in Bihar."
Over the weekend, both Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar had skipped Rahul Gandhi's first rally in Bihar, where their three parties have partnered to take on the BJP in assembly elections which will be held in five phases from next month.
Rahul Gandhi is visiting Aspen in the US to attend a conference called "Weekend with Charlies Rose", where thought leaders from politics, medicine, defence and other fields will gather, the Congress has said, emphasising that Mr Gandhi's is a "short, personal visit and he will return shortly."
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala has also said, "We reject all rumours stating otherwise. He will continue to lead the party's Bihar campaign as also in the rest of the country."
Earlier this year, Mr Gandhi's visit abroad was extended several times and stretched to almost two months during a crucial Parliament session, leading to political speculation that he had gone on protest leave after not being made the party president.
That time the Congress had not shared where Mr Gandhi was. This time the party said it had "no hesitation" in giving details of the conference he is attending.
Mr Gandhi's visit to the US coincides with the official six-day trip to that country of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will attend the UN General Assembly session in New York before heading to the Silicon Valley where he will visit the Facebook headquarters for a townhall.
A party functionary, who didn't wish to be named has told NDTV that Rahul Gandhi has no public engagement in the US.
