The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed on Saturday that Rahul Gandhi is spending more time in Vietnam than his constituency, and said the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha needs to explain his 'extraordinary fondness' for that country.
"Where is Rahul Gandhi? I heard he has gone to Vietnam," BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a press conference where he attacked the Karnataka government for its decision to give four per cent quota in government contracts to Muslims.
Prasad said Gandhi was in the Southeast Asian country during the new year as well, claiming that he has spent nearly 22 days there.
"He does not spend so many days in his constituency. What is the reason of his so much love for Vietnam suddenly," the BJP leader asked.
Gandhi is the Leader of Opposition and should be available in India, he said.
He added, "Rahul Gandhi needs to explain his extraordinary fondness for Vietnam. The frequency of his visit to that country is very curious."
Gandhi's foreign trips have long been a source of BJP's political attacks on him as the ruling party has sought to paint him as a unserious politician unfit for the cut and thrust of domestic politics.
The BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya noted that the details of Gandhi's frequent foreign travels are neither disclosed to Parliament nor made public, as he asked the Congress to clarify the issue.
In a post on X, he said, 'As the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi holds a crucial position, and his numerous clandestine trips abroad -- especially while Parliament is in session -- raise serious questions about propriety and national security.'
The Congress has, in turn, accused the BJP of politicising his private visits, and has said that he as an individual has a right to travel abroad.
Gandhi's visit to Vietnam following the death of former prime minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh on December 26 last year had also drawn criticism from the BJP.
Malviya had then said that while the country was mourning Singh's demise, Gandhi had flown to Vietnam to ring in the new year.
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