"We Expected Him To Lead": CPM MP's Critique Of Rahul Gandhi's Germany Trip

Rahul Gandhi's absence from the final five days of Parliament's winter session – he was in Germany for an Indian Overseas Congress event – was mocked by the Bharatiya Janata Party and has now been questioned by the CPM's John Brittas, whose party is a member of the Congress-led INDIA bloc.

The Rajya Sabha MP told NDTV that Rahul Gandhi – the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha - ought to have been present for the closing of a Parliament session that saw fierce exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches over electoral reforms and the G RAM G bill.

Gandhi's presence at the time "would have made all the difference", Brittas told NDTV, "We expected the Leader of the Opposition to lead… that was an expectation and desire."

"The calendar for Parliament sessions has remained pretty much the same over the past three or four decades… everyone knows it ends around December 22. So should we (the Congress' allies) tell the LoP not to schedule anything and be in India at this time or should other Congress leaders tell him?"

🔴Watch #LIVE | CPI(M) MP John Brittas (@JohnBrittas) speaks to NDTV's @ShivAroor, questions LoP Rahul Gandhi's Germany visit, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joining Speaker Om Birla's tea ceremony and more#NDTVExclusive https://t.co/m5ooNAByOB

— NDTV (@ndtv) December 23, 2025

"Leave the Left… in INDIA meetings it was DMK leader TR Baalu who questioned the absence of the Leader of the Opposition from Parliament, when he is supposed to take on the government."

Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which is ruled by a DMK-led alliance that includes the Congress, will hold elections next year, with the BJP sniffing around the edges of two states it has never quite won over.

Kerala is, perhaps, a more emergent problem after the saffron party swept 50 of 101 seats in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. The BJP also won its first Kerala Lok Sabha seat last year.

"However, it is up to Rahul Gandhi and his party to decide whether he needs to be in Parliament or… I am nobody to question whether he is serious with his work but I am saying the message we send to the people – 'the opposition is serious' – will be determined by the presence of Rahul Gandhi."

Gandhi's Germany trip was heavily mocked by the BJP.

The Congress MP was derided as the "Leader of Partying" and accused of neglecting his duties for frequent trips abroad. The party, though, hit back by pointing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trips.

READ | "Leader Of Partying": BJP Flags Rahul Gandhi Berlin Trip, Priyanka's Reply

Brittas, meanwhile, also had questions about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – who led the opposition's charge in Parliament in the absence of her brother – at the end-of-session tea party hosted by the government and attended by the Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

READ | Anecdote By Priyanka Gandhi Made PM, Rajnath Singh Smile: Inside Story

He said pictures of the Gandhi leaders – Sonia Gandhi was also present – at the event sent a 'wrong message', particularly in the context of the Bharatiya Janata Party have 'bulldozed' the Congress-enacted MNREGA rural jobs scheme, which will be superseded by the G RAM G bill.

"We have boycotted such ceremonial tea parties for comparatively less serious issues," he said.

Brittas' past criticisms

This isn't the first time the Kerala MP has fired jabs at the Congress and Rahul Gandhi.

In July he was fiercely dismissive of Gandhi's comment equating the CPM with the RSS, i.e., the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the BJP's ideological mentor, and said the Congress leader should focus on uniting secular forces insted of creating confusion and division" among them.

"It's ridiculous, preposterous... Whenever he goes to Kerala, there is a penchant for him to speak such rubbish things. And I think the Kerala Congress party is responsible for that. He chose Kerala as the battleground to take on RSS. Whereas, it was actually a fight between the Left and the Congress."

Two months earlier Brittas alleged Gandhi had 'instructed' opposition MPs to disrupt Parliament frequently and questioned the Congress leader's strategy. "Daily disruptions help the BJP," he said.

A disgruntled INDIA bloc?

Many have argued Gandhi, and the Congress, have never quite convinced in their respective roles as leaders of the opposition in Parliament and of the INDIA bloc, with the Trinamool, the Samajwadi Party, the Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (Sharad Pawar's faction) questioning them at various times.

Election defeats - like those in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra, where the Congress either could not, or did not, close seat-share deals in time to run an impactful campaign - have counted against them, as too has an insistence on contesting a large number of seats each time.

READ | INDIA Bloc United? Rahul Gandhi's 'Anti-RSS' Reply, And "Tactical" Rider

Bengal's ruling Trinamool, which already has a fractious relationship with the Congress and the INDIA bloc (under the Congress' leadership) and the DMK could be among allies now weighing the pros and cons of a continued alliance, particularly with critical elections, and the BJP challenge, moving closer.

With input from agencies

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.