NEW DELHI: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will be in United States at the same time as Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose six-day long trip to the country starts on Thursday morning.
“Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is traveling to Aspen, US on a short visit to attend a conference,” said Randeep Singh Surjewala, the party media chief, who added, “The conference is expected to be attended by global leaders from various domains, both from government and private sectors.”
Earlier in the day, the party had to field questions about Mr Gandhi’s “unannounced foreign trip” and whether it meant the Congress number two had taken another sabbatical.
Mr Gandhi’s 56-day long absence during the start of the crucial Budget session of Parliament in the last week of February this year had led to political speculation that he had gone on a protest leave after not being made the party president.
“Rahulji is travelling abroad on a short personal visit and will return shortly. We reject all rumours stating otherwise. He will continue to lead the party’s Bihar campaign as also in the rest of the country,” Mr Surjewala told reporters earlier on Tuesday.
Subsequently, the party issued a statement that Mr Gandhi is attending a global conference in the city of Aspen. However, the party has neither mentioned dates about the conference nor the duration of the visit.
A party functionary, who didn’t wish to be named, told NDTV that the Congress leader doesn’t have any public event in the US.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be in the USA from Thursday morning and will be attending a host of public events including interactions with IT leaders in the Silicon Valley and an interaction with the Indian diaspora apart from meeting heads of government on the sidelines of the annual UN Generally Assembly.
PTI
The Congress has issued a statement that Rahul Gandhi is attending a global conference in the city of Aspen
