Revealed: What Rahul Gandhi did for the 60 days he went missing
The details of the controversial vacation that the Congress MP took between February-April 2015, across four southeast Asian nations. See pics | Watch video
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's 60-day vacation trip to four South Asian nations, mostly sponsored by a foreign company, is back in the limelight. India Today has accessed specific details about the Congress leader's trip from February 16 to April 16, 2015. The specific details of the leader's sabbatical are following:
See pics: 10 slides to explain Rahul Gandhi's Southeast Asia sabbatical
- Rahul took off from New Delhi on February 16.
- The Congress leader was on a vacation for 60 days, not 56 days as reported earlier, across four southeast Asian nations.
- He reached Bangkok on February 16 itself and spent a day there.
- On February 17, he flew from Bangkok to Cambodia, where he spent 11 days.
- He was back again for a day in Bangkok on February 28.
- From Bangkok, Rahul flew to Myanmar where he spent 21 days, the longest time of the trip, from March 1-21.
- On March 22, he comes back to Thailand and visits the Buddhist Heritage Centre at Ayutthaya. He spends 9 days there.
- On March 31, the leader flies to Vietnam and returns to Bangkok on April 12.
- From April 12 to April 16, Rahul was in Bangkok.
- On April 16, Rahul Gandhi lands in India.
The Congress MP visited Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. According to information available, he spent 11 days Cambodia, 12 days in Vietnam and 15 days in Thailand. The young MP spent a maximum number of 21 days in Myanmar. During this foreign trip, Congress leader Satish Sharma's son Sameer accompanied Rahul.
Rahul's visit of Myanmar, which is not considered safe for a SPG protectee, has raised eyebrows. Last time, the SPG expressed concern about his security but Rahul allowed them to accompany him till Bangkok.
India Today Television's Rahul Kanwal debated the revelations with a set of panelists including BJP's Sudhanshu Mittal, Congress' Shobha Ojha, JNU professor Kamal Mitra Chenoi and journalist Siddharth Vardarajan. The big questions discussed on Rahul's controversial foreign tour are:
1. Who foots Rahul's chartered plane bills while he visits foreign countries?
2. Why Rahul visits foreign countries sans security cover? If any untoward incident happens who will be responsible for this?
Watch the full episode here
In a jibe aimed at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who took a two-month long sabbatical at a then unknown location abroad, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on April 30 had said the nation at least knows where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is.
Jaitley had also countered Rahul's "suit boot ki sarkar" jibe when he said, "Yeh soojh-boojh (reason) ki sarkar hai, suit-boot ki nahin."
On April 16, India Today had exclusively published the air tickets the Congress MP used during his travel. In a recap of events, the 44-year-old leader left New Delhi on February 16 by a Thai Airways flight, days before Parliament's Budget session was supposed to begin. The vacation after the Congress witnessed a series of losses in all the elections since the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
The Gandhi scion arrived at 11.15 am on a Thai Airways plane from Bangkok. The plane, which was scheduled to land at 10.35 am, was delayed by 40 minutes, sources said. Gandhi, whose name was mentioned as Rahulmr Gandhi on ticket, travelled by business class. Shortly after the 44-year-old leader reached his Tughlaq Lane residence in central Delhi, he was visited by his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and later, by sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Email: kumar.vishwas@aajtak.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/iamvishwaskumar