Should have visited samadhi of…: BJP leader on Rahul Gandhi's tribute to ex PMs

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday questioned the “sincerity” behind senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to samadhis of former prime ministers, saying it was just a part of his makeover exercise. BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said that Rahul Gandhi would have visited the samadhi P V Narsimha Rao in Hyderabad during the Bharat Jodo Yatra if he was sincere about paying respect to former prime ministers. (Also Read | Congress leader's tweet on Atal Bihari Vajpayee sparks row amid Rahul's tribute)

“Rahul Gandhi visiting samadhis of former PMs is for the shutterbugs, chattering elites and part of his makeover exercise, the nth perhaps. If he was sincere about it, he should have visited the samadhi of Narasimha Rao in Hyderabad too. He didn’t, even though it was on his way…,” Malviya wrote on Twitter.

In early November, Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed through Telangana but the Wayanad MP didn't visit the statue of former prime minister Narasimha Rao. At that time, BJP parliamentary board member and National OBC Morcha President Dr K Lakshman demanded apologies from Gandhi for not visiting Rao's statue.

"Rahul Gandhi paid homage to the statue of Indira Gandhi on Necklace Road, and not to the nearby statue of the former Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao," K Lakshman said. "Why not pay homage to the statue of PV Narasimha Rao? Is this the culture of Congress?" he lashed.

"The new Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who has worked with PV Narasimha Rao, also needs to clarify this," Lakshman added.

According to ThePrint, Rao’s son P.V. Prabhakar Rao said Gandhi couldn’t visit the statue of the former prime minister because of “security reasons.”

On Monday, Rahul Gandhi visited the memorials of Mahatma Gandhi and several former prime ministers in New Delhi. He visited Veer Bhumi, Shakti Sthal and Shanti Van – the memorials of former prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Gandhi also visited Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi, and Vijay Ghat, the memorial of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. He paid tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his memorial Sadaiv Atal.