Travel blogging and solo trips have picked up in an unprecedented manner in the past few years, and the man who can be credited with making it popular with the Indian youth has to be the former Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi. The 49-year old, who has been projected as the youth icon of the country by the grand old party for more than a decade has been frequently going on sudden vacations and sabbaticals, often leaving his party to fend for itself.
In what can be described as yet another sudden and mysterious vacation by Rahul Gandhi, he has reportedly skipped Congress’ week-long protests against the Centre and now the Congress leaders have come out defending the Gandhi scion. Congress has claimed that he has left on meditational tour but the protests were planned by him. This is hilarious at just so many levels. It is absolutely bizarre how the dynast planned a protest alongside his vacation, masquerading as a meditational tour. Moreover, it is absurd that Rahul Gandhi has to travel to a foreign destination, when the entire world travels to India, for meditation.
Amit Malviya, In-charge of BJP’s national Information & Technology, tweeted, “India is a leading center for meditation with a rich heritage. But Rahul Gandhi routinely flies out to odd destinations for ‘meditation’. Why doesn’t Congress simply make his itinerary public, after all he is a highly protected leader!”
India is a leading center for meditation with a rich heritage. But Rahul Gandhi routinely flies out to odd destinations for ‘meditation’. Why doesn’t Congress simply make his itinerary public, after all he is a highly protected leader!
— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) October 30, 2019
This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has suddenly disappeared on a relaxation trip after all the ‘hard work’ that the Nehru-Gandhi dynast has put in. His so called breaks and sabbaticals have time and again interjected at crucial times that often leaves the Congress leaders scrambling to defend him with some of the most absurd and bizarre arguments that one can think of. In 2017, Rahul Gandhi had gone on a break at a time when the Presidential polls were around the corner and the Congress was also trying to manufacture outrage against farmer crisis in the country. This was also the time when the Congress was getting increasingly decimated across the length and breadth of the country. At such a crucial time, Rahul Gandhi departed for Italy. The Congress could manage only a hilariously absurd justification for his absence. The grand old party argued that Rahul Gandhi had gone to Italy to meet his grand mother Paola Maino and that taking care of grandparents is in accordance with the country’s cultural ethos.
In fact, mysterious disappearances and trips to exotic locations when the party needs effective leadership has been a defining character of Rahul Gandhi ever since the Congress started projecting him as its Prime Ministerial candidate. In June 2013, the entire country was devastated with Uttarakhand’s floods. The state was hit by heavy rainfall and flash floods with an estimated casualty of 6,000 people, along with damage statistic of around 4,200 villages. The Congress led UPA was in power, both, at the centre and at the state. At such a time, Rahul Gandhi, being the Congress vice president had chosen to go off to some exotic foreign locale and had only visited the state 2 weeks after the devastation began, a day after Narendra Modi began rescue operations. Moreover, before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it was rumoured all over social media that Rahul Gandhi had abandoned the party before the crucial elections and had gone off to a secret location. Thereafter, a photo of him roaming on an open jeep had emerged and therefore it was speculated that he was in Ranthambore National Park. Needless to say, the party had reached its lowest point in history during those elections, securing just about 44 seats.
Rahul Gandhi, it seems, has been planning his vacations to coincide with the important events in the country. Back in 2015, during the crucial budgetary period in the country, when Sonia Gandhi had been leading the opposition’s protest against the Land Acquisition Bill, Rahul Gandhi was on a 56-day sabbatical. He has developed this uncanny art of running away from crucial political and national issued and situations. He anyway becomes a source of derision and embarrassment, if he is in India and in the midst of an active political situation, by any chance, owing to his intellectual bankruptcy and bizarre statements.
This has become a vicious circle for the Congress. Every time Rahul Gandhi disappears on a mysterious trip, party leaders fail to find a plausible justification and then Rahul Gandhi makes a rhetorical statement against the Modi government after completing his poorly timed vacation. Some mainstream media outlets and portals then celebrate the resurgence of Rahul Gandhi, who they argue has come back as a much more evolved leader from his foreign trip. However, Rahul Gandhi never really takes much time in showing his true colours and the Congress leaders once again find themselves handling the liability that has been thrust upon in the form of the Gandhi scion.
