Rajnath takes jibe at Rahul for questioning Modi's foreign travel

Taking a veiled dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who recently asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit farm markets and the families of dead farmers rather than embarking on frequent trips abroad, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said Modi's foreign tours have strengthened India's position.

"Regarding questions being raised on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's frequent foreign visits, such trips have strengthened India's position," Rajnath Singh said at a public meeting here.

He said when Modi's predecessor Manmohan Singh went visiting nations, no one talked about it.

"Now when Narendra Modi is doing the same, people are raising questions," said the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader.

"And who is at the forefront? A Congress leader who was himself missing for a while as he was on vacation. Modi was on an official visit and not vacationing," said Rajnath Singh, taking a jibe at Gandhi who took a sabbatical at an undisclosed location earlier this year.

Gandhi, who has been aggressively raising the cause of farmers both inside and outside parliament, asked Modi to visit farm markets instead of spending time on foreign soil.

"He loves to tour foreign countries but has never visited the house of a deceased farmer," Gandhi said on Tuesday.