New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's latest visit to the US has led to an intense war of words between BJP and the Congress
The BJP has questioned Congress' claim that Rahul had gone to attend a prestigious "Weekend With Charlie Rose" conference and claimed that the said conference was already over as it was held between June 25 and July 4.
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"Weekend with Charlie Rose" was held between June 25 and July 4. "Is Rahul Gandhi travelling back in time?" BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.
"Congress is unable to give proper reason for Rahul's absence. Everyday they are trotting out a new story, coming out with a new fact that turns out to be false. It is resorting to apparent falsehood and lies to hide facts we don't know," he told reporters.
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He claimed the institute's manager had stated that nobody by the name of the Congress leader had either attended its event or was scheduled to take part in future.
The row further heated up after a report from the US – as per The Times of India - quoted Karen Peterson, Registrar and Conference Manager, Aspen Ideas Festival, as saying that the "Weekend with Charlie Rose" got over in the first week of July this year.
"I don't see Rahul Gandhi listed as a speaker in any Aspen-related event, public or private, in the past or in the near future," the report quoted Petersen saying.
Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala accused it of spreading "patent lies" and "petty canards" as BJP was foreseeing its "imminent loss" in the Bihar polls.
"Rahul Gandhi is travelling to Aspen, US, on a short visit to attend a conference. 'Weekend with Charlie Rose' is a conference where thought leaders from different walks of life like politics, finance, technology, media, medicine, sports gather to deliberate on multiple issues," Surjewala had said.
