Digvijaya Singh defends Rahul Gandhi for taking a break but admits 'timing could have been better'

New Delhi: Coming to the defence of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh said there was nothing wrong in taking a break because it helps in introspecting. However, he admitted that a leave during the Budget session of Parliament might have been avoided.

"If Rahul wans to reflect what went wrong why criticise him ? Every one wants some peace to reflect. Only timing could have been better," the long-time confidante of the gandhi family tweeted.

Rahul went on a surprise sabbatical "for a few weeks" on the day the Budget session of Parliament started on Monday. His decision sparked speculations with sources claiming that he was upset over his views and strategies being rejected by party veterans. Rahul's absence is being considered to be a message to the old guard to either fall in line or leave.

The Congress though, has rubbished the speculations and condemned them as "unjustifiable". Party spokespserson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Rahul had requested Congress President Sonia Gandhi just for a few weeks to reflect both on recent events related to the party and its future course. "Rahul believes that the AICC session (expected in the first week of April) is vital and he would like to give specific inputs on this. He wants to do introspection with what happened with regard to Congress in recent times and earlier," Singhvi said.

The Congress spokesperson said that after applying his mind on these issues, Rahul will "return to resume his active participation in political affairs of Congress".

Opposition parties did not miss a chance to take a jibe at the Congress vice president and termed the move a reason behind the party's dismal show in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"This only shows the seriousness of the Congress party. They are holidaying," Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. Backing Rudy, MP Anurag Thakur said, "It is for him to decide what the priority is. They have been missing and that is why people have thrown them out."

Even in the past, Rahul has had a record of low attendance in the Lok Sabha and was absent during many crucial discussions and debate in the last few sessions. The AICC session is expected in early April and reports have suggested that Rahul could be made the party chief on that occasion.

Congress has been performing badly at the hustings, which started with the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and continued in the Assembly elections in various states including Delhi recently. The debacle in Delhi, where Congress failed to get even one seat in the 70-member House, was more stunning as the party had ruled the state for 15 years till December 2013.