Event for which Rahul Gandhi has gone to US already over, claims BJP

NEW DELHI: Stepping up its attack on Congress over Rahul Gandhi's US visit, BJP today said the conference its vice president was claimed to have gone to attend had got over in July and accused it of "resorting to falsehood to hide facts we don't know".

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao wondered if Rahul was "travelling back in time" as he cited the schedule of the The Aspen Institute to claim that its annual event 'Weekend with Charlie Rose' was held between June 25 and July 4.

"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.

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.

Rao said Rahul was entitled to go on a personal visit but Congress should stop "lying" to "mislead" the country.

BJP and Congress are involved in a bitter war of words after the Congress leader left for the US, with the ruling party firing the first salvo derisively claiming he had been sent on a "forced vacation" as his Bihar allies believed that his presence would harm their chances in the assembly polls.

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.