'Is it a crime for someone to visit grandmother,' Cong asks BJP

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday hit back at the BJP for its attack on party president Rahul Gandhi, who left for Italy to spend time with his grandmother.

The statements made by the BJP leaders have not gone down well with the Congress top-brass. Congress leader Ahmed Patel said, "Absolutely baseless, is it a crime for someone to visit his own grandmother? It has become a profession for him to make unnecessary comments," he said.

Celebrating BJP's win in the Northeast states, BJP president Amit Shah took a swipe at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. "Italy mein chunao bhi toh hai (Italy is holding elections too)," he mocked at Rahul at the Press conference.

As the gathering of reporters burst into laughter, the BJP chief chuckled, "I got a WhatsApp message that there are elections in Italy. I don't know..."

Rahul Gandhi, who took the baton of Congress party from his mother Sonia in December 2017, declared on Twitter on Thursday that he was off to Italy to visit his 93-year-old grandmother. The announcement meant that the party chief would not be in the country for the results of the elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland - the second big day of counting since his elevation.

Rahul became the Congress president just two days ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections in December last year.

"My Nani is 93. She's the kindest soul ever. This Holi weekend I'm going to surprise her! I can't wait to give her a hug....," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet before setting off for Italy.

BJP chief Amit Shah said that the Congress has been rejected in all the three Northeastern states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland.

Earlier, union minister Giriraj Singh, "Rahul Gandhi is a master election strategist… he knows when to run away from India now," he tweeted.

Singh during a press conference added, ""He is not a natural leader. He is a leader of circumstances. A leader does not leave his people in such times. He is a non-serious president of the Congress party."

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma also hit out at the Congress president. "If BJP chief Amit Shah is a student of post graduation then Congress President Rahul Gandhi is still in nursery class," he said while comparing the two leaders' capability in politics.

Sarma was in the Congress for nearly two decades and a minister in the then Tarun Gogoi-led Congress governments for nearly 15 years before joining the BJP in 2015.