'Did Rahul Gandhi's partying extend to conspiring against India?': BJP Karnataka asks Randeep Surjewala

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday exchanged barbs after a video of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi partying apparently in a Kathmandu nightclub went viral.

BJP's IT cell chief Amit Malviya took to Twitter and wrote, "Rahul Gandhi was at a nightclub when Mumbai was under seize(sic). He is at a nightclub at a time when his party is exploding. He is consistent. Interestingly, soon after the Congress refused to outsource their presidency, hit jobs have begun on their Prime Ministerial candidate...," Malviya said in the tweet.

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "Regular Parties, Vacations, Holidays, Pleasure Trips, Private Foreign Visits etc are nothing new to the nation now. As a private citizen there's no issue at all but when an MP, a permanent boss of a national political party who keeps preaching others..."

As the barbs against Rahul continued, the Congress responded by taking a jibe at the Prime Minister and saying that he was not an "uninvited guest like the Prime Minister when he visited Pakistan".

Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Rahul Gandhi has not gone as an uninvited guest like Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to Pakistan to celebrate the birthday and cut cakes for the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. Rahul Gandhi has gone to a friendly country Nepal to participate in a private marriage function of a friend. By chance, the friend also happens to be a journalist," he said.

"Last when I checked, having a family in this country and having friends, attending marriage and engagement ceremonies is a matter of our culture and civilisation. It has still not become a crime in this country to be married, to be friends with someone or to attend their marriage celebration. Maybe after today, Prime Minister Modi or the BJP may decide that it is illegal to attend a marriage. They may say it is a crime to have friends or participate in family functions," he added.

Meanwhile, BJP Karnataka hit back at Surjewala and asked him if Rahul Gandhi's partying extended to conspiring against India.

"Dear @rssurjewala, Your co-owner @RahulGandhi partying with a Chinese Diplomat in Kathmandu is not a private affair. Was it just limited to partying or did it extend to conspiring against India? #GaddarGandhism," read the tweet.

(With PTI inputs)