Rahul heading to Norway, will miss two Oppn rallies
NEWDELHI: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be travelling to Oslo on the invitation of the Norwegian foreign ministry, as a result of which he will not be able to attend the two opposition rallies in Bihar and Gujarat.
While RJD chief Lalu Prasad is organising a rally of opposition parties — BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao—in Patnaon August 27, the Congress has planned a similar public meeting at Padri in Valsad district of Gujarat on September 1. However, Rahul will launch his Gujarat election campaign with a workers’ meet in Ahmedabad on September 4.
“On the invitation of the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs, will be travelling to Oslo for a few days,” the Congress V-P wrote on Twitter .“Looking forward to meeting and ex changing ideas with political and business leaders and research institutions,” he said in another tweet.
The absence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul apart from BSP chief Mayawati has taken the sting out of the opposition’s purported show of strength against the BJP.
However, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, former chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand Akhilesh Yadav and Hemant Soren apart from rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav will share the stage with the RJD chief. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad will represent the Congress.
The Bihar Congress was vertically divided on the issue of participation of Sonia and Rahul in the rally. One section wanted the Gandhis to skip the rally and maintain a “healthy” distance from the RJD, arguing the change in Bihar politics has given the Congress an opportunity to reclaim its lost political space in the state where the grand-oldpartywas oncea dominant force.
“Move to distance the party from Lalu will be favoured by the upper castes, especially Brahmins,” said senior leader Kishore Kumar Jha. However, another group favoured the participation suggesting skipping the event would be a setback to Prasad’s efforts to unite opposition parties.