Rahul Gandhi's US visit a 'forced vacation' says BJP, sparks war of words with Cong

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi’s trip to the US fuelled a war of words between rival parties on Wednesday with BJP wryly saying it may be a “forced vacation” linked to Bihar poll campaign, inviting sharp retort from Congress which accused it of spreading “patent lies” and “canards”. The Congress said the party Vice President has gone to the US to attend a conference ‘Weekend with Charlie Rose’ at Aspen Institute in Colorado. Hitting back at BJP, Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was spreading “petty canards” as it was foreseeing its “imminent loss” in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls. [caption id=“attachment_2440766” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] “Rahul Gandhi is travelling to Aspen, US on a short visit to attend a conference. ‘Weekend with Charlie Rose’ is a conference where thought leaders from different walks of life like politics, finance, technology, media, medicine, sports etc gather to deliberate on multiple issues,” Surjewala said. His remarks came after BJP spokesman Sambit Patra took a dig at Rahul over his visit to the US, saying it may be a “forced vacation” as, according to him, allies JD(U) and RJD wanted him out of the Bihar poll campaign. Surjewala said BJP is seeing its “imminent loss” in Bihar elections and spreading of “petty canards” is being resorted to like RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat calling for review of reservation and BJP spokesperson “shooting themselves in the foot by spreading patent lies.” Patra took potshots at Congress, saying the party was now looking for a “face-saver” which was reflected from the “dichotomy” in its statements. “It appears that the feedback the leaders of grand alliance got from Bihar made them call Congress to send him on a forced vacation because his stay anywhere near Bihar is going to harm their electoral chances,” Patra said. Mocking at the Congress’ explanation that Rahul will attend a conference in Aspen, US, the BJP spokesman said the Congress leader was an “expert without knowledge”. Another Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha took to Twitter to attack BJP. “Poor pathetic BJP; now like a cry-baby on a wet diaper protesting Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the USA. Grow up, imbecile and infantile!”, he said. “A combination of verbal diarrhea and mental constipation has hit the good doctor. Time for self-medication, pal!”, Jha said targeting Patra who is a doctor by profession. The website of Aspen Institute says since 1991, Rose has done in-depth interviews with Nobel laureates and extraordinary men and women of science, politics, art, business, sports, technology, literature, and entertainment than any other tv program in the world. It says that these conversations have made Rose the cultural and intellectual custodian of our times, providing accessible profiles of the people who have influenced world. Rose is the recipient of the Legion d’honneur, numerous awards from the scientific and journalism communities, and many honorary degrees. Later, in a statement, Surjewala said a “motivated and malicious” campaign is being run by the BJP with regard to Rahul’s visit. He said the conference, which is by invitation only, is scheduled between 24 to 28 September. Rose had recently interviewed Russian President Vladmir Putin. With regard to speculation being made by the BJP about Rahul campaigning in Bihar, he said it was Sonia Gandhi and the Congress Vice President who had started the Mahagathbandhan Campaign in Bihar from the Parivartan Rally in Patna and the Samarsta Rally in Ramnagar, West Champaran. “The BJP would also do well to realise that Shri Rahul Gandhi will be very much there to spearhead the Congress campaign in Bihar and provide them the much-deserved body blow in the elections, campaigning to which will go well into the first week of November,” he added. PTI