NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi, who retired as Congress President after remaining at the helm for two decades, has quietly slipped out of Delhi for the year-end holiday in Goa, leaving the Congress turf open for son Rahul whom she handed over the party’s baton two weeks ago.
Her departure came to notice when she was found missing in the 133rd foundation day function at the party headquarters addressed by Raul Gandhi in the presence of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders. Goa has been her favourite place for holiday in the past too.
In a photograph tweeted by the verified handle of actor Riteish Deshmukh, 71-year-old Sonia Gandhi can be seen cycling and posing for a photograph in a resort in Goa. She is staying at a 5-Star Leela property.
Meanwhile, in his brief address after customary hoisting of the party flag, Rahul lashed out at the BJP for spinning “web of deceit and lies” and asked all Congress members to fight it with “truth” which has been the hallmark of the party’s struggle right from the time of the freedom struggle.
“The BJP operates on the basic idea that a lie can be used for political benefit and this is the difference us and them. We might suffer, we might not do well, we might be able to lose, but we will always defend the truth and that is the difference between the Congress and them,” Rahul said, stressing that “the central idea of the Congress is the truth, we accept the truth, we work with the truth and we fight for the truth.”
Without naming Union Minister Ananth Hegde, he said the ruling party was resorting to deceit and lies directly as also “surreptitiously” to make a dent in the Constitution and talk of removing its secular character. “It is our duty, duty of Congress, duty of every single Indian to defend the Constitution,” he added.
