Rahul Gandhi casual politician: BJP takes swipe at Congress leader over foreign trip

New Delhi: The BJP on Monday criticised Rahul Gandhi as "a casual politician" over his reported trip abroad, saying it would have been good had the Congress leader visited flood-hit Karnataka and Punjab where farmers are in distress.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also reminded Gandhi that there is no break in public life.

"Best wishes to Rahul Gandhi where he is on vacation. When someone is a casual politician, it is bound to happen -- 'Now I have worked a lot. Let me take a break'. Let me gently remind Rahul Gandhi that there is no break in public life," Prasad told reporters.

"If you are a leader you have to be available for people's cause," he added.

Prasad also slammed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for allegedly chiding a farmer for telling him that he lost crop in his four-acre farm in Kalaburgi in the Congress-ruled Karnataka due to heavy rains.

Kharge told the farmer from his traditional political turf that he himself had suffered damages in his 40-acre farm.

"What kind of arrogance is this," Prasad said, adding that the farmer had visited him to share his pain.

Earlier, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya claimed that Gandhi has gone on a "clandestine vacation" in Langkawi, Malaysia.

"Looks like the heat and dust of Bihar's politics was too much for the Congress Yuvraj, who had to rush off for a break. Or is it another one of those secret meetings that no one is supposed to know about?" he said.

"Either way, while people struggle with real issues, Rahul Gandhi is busy perfecting the art of disappearing and vacationing," he added.