Rahul Gandhi, the
Congress scion’s sighting at a nightclub has triggered a political firestorm.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken potshot after potshot at the former
Congress president under whose leadership, the 150-year-old party has seen a
waning of fortunes like never before.

Amit Malviya, the
man who leads BJP’s complex and ubiquitous social media presence, tweeted: “Rahul
Gandhi was at a nightclub when Mumbai was under seize. He is at a nightclub at
a time when his party is exploding. He is consistent. Interestingly, soon after
the Congress refused to outsource their presidency, hit jobs have begun on
their Prime Ministerial candidate.”

Gandhi, 51, has
often been accused of being a part-time politician. The accusation has not only
come from people opposed to the Congress but also from within the party.

Amit Malviya’s
attack, however, saw the Congress rushing in to defend their leader. Randip
Singh Surjewala conducted a press conference to say that Gandhi was attending a
friend’s wedding in Nepal. “Rahul Gandhi has gone to Nepal, a friendly country,
to attend a journalist’s wedding. There is nothing wrong. It’s a matter of our
culture. It’s not a crime. Maybe the PM and BJP will soon decide it’s a crime
to participate in weddings of friends and family members,” Surjewala said.

Surjewala also
took the opportunity to take a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said
Gandhi’s visit was unlike cutting a birthday cake with erstwhile Pakistan PM
Nawaz Sharif. “Rahul Gandhi hasn’t gone to Pakistan as an uninvited guest like
PM Modi to cut a cake with Nawaz Sharif, and we know what happens in Pathankot.”

The Congress MP
reached Kathmandu on Monday, April 2 along with three others, the Kathmandu
Post reported. He was there to attend the wedding of Sumnima Udas, a former CNN
journalist who currently works as the executive director of the Lumbini Museum.
The wedding is scheduled for Tuesday and the reception Thursday, local media
reported.

The Congress
leadership, until recently, was engaged in conversations with political
strategist Prashant Kishor. Media reports indicated that the Congress wanted
Kishor to join the party full time which he was not keen on. Kishor reportedly
said deep doubts about how invested the Congress leadership is in touch
decisions to revive the party, sources close to him told NDTV.

The Congress, in
response to Kishor’s decision against joining the party, said, “We are a party
and we are in the process of making changes in the party and we will definitely
make necessary changes to meet the aspirations of workers and leaders.”