BJP slams Rahul Gandhi's visit to Kolkata flyover collapse site

New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi over his visit to the site of the flyover collapse in Kolkata, calling it a "photo-op" which is the "lifeline" of the politics of the Congress vice president.

The party also asked him to explain his stand on the award of contract for building the flyover to an alleged blacklisted firm by the then CPI(M) government in West Bengal, questioning if the alliance between Congress and the Left there is based on the "foundation of corruption".

"Rahul Gandhi is known for photo-ops. That is his politics. His political lifeline is photo-op," BJP National Secretary and West Bengal co-incharge Sidharth Nath Singh said reacting to the visit.

He also claimed that BJP took a conscious decision that its Union Ministers, who were in the state for electioneering, would not go to the spot so as to avoid hampering rescue operation and drew a comparison with demonstration by Congress workers there that, he alleged, hindered rescue work.

Singh said Gandhi must answer if Congress exhibited responsibility with its demonstration on the spot yesterday.

On the other hand there were two senior ministers on the day "setugate" happened, he said, adding that Home Minister Rajnath Singh monitored help by the NDRF and Army team. Another Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was in Kolkata but did not go to the site of rescue operation.