Lucknow: Taking a dig at Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his 56-day sabbatical, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday said that ups and downs are part of politics but for the first time he has seen a leader "going missing" after poll drubbing.
"Ups and downs are part of politics. For the first time it was seen that any leader went missing due to defeat," Paswan said without taking Rahul's name.
"Yuvraj will have to clarify where he had gone and why," he said while replying to a question.
"If he wanted to become the party president, the matter would have been solved at home. What was the need to flee?" he said.
Asked whether his return would pose a problem to the Centre, Paswan replied in the negative, saying "Groups have formed in the Congress. All the problem will be there only."
Ending his mysterious 56-day foreign sojourn, Rahul returned home yesterday with the Congress party hailing him as a "mature" leader who would magically restore the party's health, notwithstanding the voices within questioning his leadership abilities.
