TG323 Bangkok to Delhi: What Rahul Gandhi's ticket tells us, about his sabbatical rumours

Where is Rahul Gandhi? Was he in Thailand or Italy or Greece or Vietnam? Is he on a vacation? Did he meet a secret lover? These are questions we don’t have definitive answers for. Recent reports have revealed that he is back in India, and Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi have gone to visit him in his Tuglak Road home in Delhi. And amid rumours of where he could have possibly been, Headlines Today has found a business class flight ticket from Delhi to Bangkok dated February 16. [caption id=“attachment_2199094” align=“alignnone” width=“500”]  Source: India Today[/caption]   A ticket to Bangkok could mean many things, from connecting flights to a layover. So based on this new piece of evidence, and with all the information we have at hand, we evaluate the many rumoured destinations of Rahul’s sabbatical, from least likely to most likely. 1. Camping in Uttarakhand Blurred pictures of Rahul Gandhi emerging from a tent, and speaking on the phone in the middle of jungle, by the banks of Ganga River, were released by Congress worker Jagdish Sharma on Twitter. He told ABP News, “I was hurt to hear in a debate on a news channel that Rahul Gandhi is in Bangkok so I tweeted the pictures last night itself. Some big leaders in the Congress want Rahulji to be sidelined.” [caption id=“attachment_2198946” align=“alignnone” width=“500”]  Rahul Gandhi spotted in Uttarakhand. Image from Twitter: @jagdishkumarsh4[/caption] Likelihood meter: Very low, considering Uttarakhand is in India. And those photos turned out to be old.   2. Catching up with friends in Italy Sunday Guardian “confirmed” that Rahul was “holidaying in Italy with his childhood friend Samir Sharma, the son of family friend Satish Sharma” and was back in Delhi after a 2 month sabbatical. Apparently, he first went to Bangkok, then flew to London en route to catch up with his friend in Italy. Right, fly east first and then around the world to Europe. He must have the most directionally challenged travel agent in the business. [caption id=“attachment_2154063” align=“alignnone” width=“500”]  Representational Image. PTI[/caption] Likelihood meter: Medium since Bangkok could well be the last stop in a global tour. Think: around the world in 57 days.   3. Hanging in Greece If he was in Italy, why not Greece which is just a hop, skip and jump away. A little souvlaki to ease the boredom of endless pasta. [caption id=“attachment_2185625” align=“alignnone” width=“500”]  Representational Image. PTI image.[/caption] Likelihood meter: Low since Greece is no closer to Bangkok than Italy   4. Meditating in Myanmar IBN Live has said that Rahul has returned to Delhi after a 2 month long visit to a meditation retreat in Yangon, Myanmar. His connecting flight from Bangkok was delayed and therefore, he arrived on Thursday morning. That’s a whole lot of vipasana, but then he probably needed it to face the music back home. [caption id=“attachment_2141725” align=“alignnone” width=“500”]  Representational Image. PTI[/caption] Likelihood meter: High. We prefer to think Rahulji mixed it up on his vacation: Spirituality first (Myanmar), party later (Bangkok!).   5. Chilling in Thailand Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Rahul Gandhi was vacationing to ““reflect upon recent events and the future course of the party”, while the Bangkok Post reported that he was taking an extended break in Thailand. There is no better place to contemplate Indian politics than a pricey spa. [caption id=“attachment_1695877” align=“alignnone” width=“500”]  Representational Image. PTI[/caption] Likelihood Meter: Very high. We can indeed be sure he was in that country’s airport, but then again, who spends 57 days in Thailand?!