Parliament loses Rahul to 'introspection', found him camping in Uttarakhand

Updated: Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 11:25 [IST]

New Delhi, Feb 24:R ahul Gandhi's absence from the Parliament was striking, but was accepted in silent consolation that he was 'introspecting' about the past events. However, things took a surprising turn when one of Congress party workers posted pictures of him camping in Uttarakhand.

High costs for introspections

There is more to it. Inside sources say that he had packed his bag to somewhere in Southeast Asia or Europe after the March poll debacle.

"It could either be Thailand or Singapore," said a source not willing to be named.

According to an elaborate itinerary of Rahul Gandhi, published by the Sunday Guardian, Rahul had booked a Business class seat on Thai Airways on March 9th last year after the just-concluded assembly elections.

He got back to Delhi on March 15th and started 'helping' the party for the upcoming elections.

Too bad that the Delhi assembly elections were a disappointment too.

By then he had missed the Budget session, the President's address to the Parliament on March 12 he Prime Minister's dinner for UPA allies on March 13 and the Railway Budget on March 14.

However, he was right on time for Pranab Mukherjee's Budget speech and joyfully told reporters that it was a "good budget".

Congressmen embarassed

Congress party workers have revealed their frustration at the unpredictable travel plans of the Gandhi scion.

"You know how Rahul works, in a silo. We had no clue about his travel plans and, frankly, it makes little difference to us whether he is in the country or not. He doesn't involve the rest of the party," a party official had said in 2012.

In fact, Rahul is said to have postponed a meeting to review the Uttar Pradesh poll results from end-March to April 6 and 7 that very year and then went off abroad without notice.

No wonder they wanted Priyanka Gandhi to hold the Congress batton before the party sunk to an irreparable debacle.

Meanwhile, the Congress member-Jagdish Sharma who posted the pictures of Rahul Gandhi justified Tweeting,"Truth is that he is working, no party worker will tolerate wrong reports like ones running around. I posted pictures of Rahul ji to debunk the wrong reports that were doing the rounds about him being in Bangkok."

After the Lok Sabha elections in 2013 and the Delhi assembly election debacle in 2015, it would not be surprising if Congress readily gives up their 'Baba' for a more stable hand to hold the party batton.