Rahul did not flout norm during Uttarakhand visit: Cong

Rahul Gandhi did not flout anynorm or transgress any rule during his Uttarakhand visit, Congress said today after the party vice-president had an overnight halt in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

Rahul Gandhi did not flout anynorm or transgress any rule during his Uttarakhand visit, Congress said on Tuesday after the party vice-president had an overnight halt in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

HT Image

At the same time, the party took a dig at Narendra Modi for his reported rescue act even as BJP hit back at it for attacking the Gujarat Chief Minister.

"Rahul Gandhi has not flouted any norm. He has gone there as a citizen of the country and Vice-President of Congress. He went there in a personal vehicle driven by his friends," party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary told reporters here.

She was responding to a question as to why Rahul's chopper was allowed to land, when Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had advised the VIPs yesterday not to visit there.

"He (Rahul) has not transgressed any rule. No security personnel were diverted. Neither the Chief Minister nor the Secretary accompanied him.

"Rahul Gandhi had categorically said that nobody will be diverted and no work will be diluted due to his visit. He went for an aerial survey and due to technical reason, his chopper was made to land at one place," she said.

Alluding to the report that Modi had rescued 15,000 Gujaratis trapped in flash flood, Chowdhary said Rahul never said he will rescue only people from a particular area.

"In times of such tragedies, you cannot be selective about whom do you want to rescue. It's a very sorry state of affairs if some people engage in such things. During the times of such calamities, it should not matter to which caste or state people belong," she said.