Cong leader says Rahul is in Uttarakhand, but party V-P's office trashes claim

A Congress trade union leader on Thursday released a few photographs of Rahul Gandhi and said he was in Uttarakhand, a claim trashed by the party vice-president’s office. Amid speculation over Rahul's leave and a debate on the timing of his sabbatical – the budget session of Parliament is underway, party worker Jagdish Sharma posted the photos on Twitter.

A Congress trade union leader on Thursday released a few photographs of Rahul Gandhi and said he was in Uttarakhand, a claim trashed by the party vice-president’s office.

Photo-of-Rahul-Gandhi-tweeted-by-Congress-member-Jagdish-Kumar-Sharma-who-claims-the-party-vice-president-is-in-Uttarakhand-Photo-Twitter-jagdishkumarsh4

Amid speculation over Rahul's leave and a debate on the timing of his sabbatical – the budget session of Parliament is underway, party worker Jagdish Sharma posted the photos on Twitter.

Sharma told CNN-IBN, “He needed time and is introspecting the future course of the party.”

The TV news channel also quoted Sharma as saying, “He will be made the party chief in the session that will be held in Bengaluru. If some people have objections to it, they will have to leave the party."

Rahul’s office, however, said the photos Sharma made public were clicked during the Congress heir-apparent’s 2008 visit to the hill state of Uttarakhand, according to CNN-IBN.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the photographs.

The state unit of the Congress said it had no idea about Rahul’s whereabouts.

Rahul has gone on a sabbatical "for a few weeks" following a string of electoral losses, fuelling speculation about his future plan as well of a long-awaited change in the party to revive its fortunes.

(Photos: Twitter, @jagdishkumarsh4)