Why question LoP when PM spends half of his working time outside country Priyanka

     New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday hit back at the BJP for its criticism of Rahul Gandhi over his visit to Germany next week, asking why they are raising questions on the leader of the opposition when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spends "almost half of his working time outside the country".
     The Congress also put out a list of Prime Minister Modi's visits overseas, claiming that they coincide with Parliament sessions and when the country was going through a crisis.
     The list was captioned "Sansad Chale Desh Mein, Modi Chale Videsh Mein" on the Congress's official X handle.
     Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, will visit Germany from December 15 to 20, during which he will engage with the Indian diaspora and meet German ministers, according to the Indian Overseas Congress.
     The BJP took a swipe at Gandhi, saying his designation as LoP stands for "leader of Paryatan (tourism)".
     "Once again, Videsh Nayak is doing what he does best! Going for a foreign tour! Parliament is on till Dec 19 but reports suggest Rahul Gandhi to visit Germany from Dec 15-20! Rahul is LoP - leader of paryatan," BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a post on X.
     "During Bihar elections, too, he was abroad and then went to a jungle safari," he added.
     Asked about the BJP's attack on Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi told reporters, "Modi ji spends almost half of his working time outside the country... Why are they raising questions on the leader of opposition (in Lok Sabha) travelling?"
     Congress spokesperson and head of social media department Supriya Shrinate said in a post that Narendra Modi has gone on 94 international trips and 85 per cent of his foreign tours are during Parliament sessions.
     Listing out PM Modi's foreign tours during Parliament sessions, she said, in August 2014 (Monsoon session), he went to Nepal on August 3-4, 2014. During March 2015 (Budget session), he went to Seychelles, Mauritius, Sri Lanka from March 10–14, 2015, and in the Winter session, he went to France from November 30-December 1.
     In November 2015 (Winter session), he went to the United Kingdom from November 12-14, 2015; during the Budget session, he went to Belgium, USA, Saudi Arabia from March 3-April 3, 2016, and during the Monsoon session, he visited Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa from July 23–28, 2018.
     During the Budget session in 2019, she said the PM visited Japan from June 27–29 and in February 2020 (Budget session), he visited the USA from February 24–25.
     During the Budget session in 2025, he visited France and the USA from February 10–13; in March 2025 (Budget session), he went to Mauritius; in July 2025 (Monsoon session), he went to the United Kingdom and the Maldives.
     Listing out Modi's trips amidst domestic crisis, she said during the Pulwama attack (February 2019), he kept shooting a documentary at Corbett despite learning of the attack in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives on February 14, 2019 and shortly after, he went to South Korea.
     "During COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown (March 2020), he attended the Australia-India Business Forum in Sydney (February 22-24, 2020) despite the first case of COVID reported in India in January 2020.
     "During Manipur violence escalation (May 2023–ongoing) from May 2023 to April 2024, Modi made 14 international trips, including to the US, France, UAE, UK, Greece, but zero to Manipur till in September 2025 for 2 hours," the post read.
     During the wrestler’s protest and Balasore train tragedy in June 2023, the PM travelled to the United States for a trip that cost over Rs 22 crore, the most expensive single trip, she said.
     "During the Pahalgam terror attack (May 2025), Modi was in Saudi Arabia, returned to India, but instead of going to J-K, he went for an election programme to Bihar the next day. On Delhi terror attack (November 2025), he travelled to Bhutan to celebrate the King’s birthday (November 11-12, 2025)," Shrinate claimed.
     Earlier, Balwinder Singh, president of Indian Overseas Congress, Germany, said, "The Member of Parliament and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit Germany from December 15 to 20. He will be accompanied by Indian Overseas Congress Chairperson Sam Pitroda."
     Reacting to the Congress list, the BJP said the opposition party should not compare the PM's official visits to various countries with Rahul Gandhi's meetings with "strange, unknown, invisible and suspicious individuals" during his personal visits abroad.
     There is a clear difference between the prime minister's "official foreign visit on duty" and Rahul Gandhi's "foreign visit on vacation", BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
     "I want to ask the Congress about the real game. What actually happens during such foreign visits?" he asked.
     BJP national spokesperson Tuhin Sinha, at a press conference at the BJP headquarters, alleged that the itinerary of Rahul's "official or unofficial" trips is not shared when he goes abroad.
     Sinha said Rahul was the "leader of paryatan" (leader of tourism) and "leader of partying".
     He does not appear to be the LoP the way he embarks on foreign visits by skipping "important occasions" in the country, Sinha charged, adding that the Congress leader should have been here during the Parliament session.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)