There are elections in Italy too: Amit Shah's jibe at Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Celebrating BJP's win in the Northeast, BJP president Amit Shah took a swipe at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who flew to Italy to be with his grandmother on the Holi weekend. "Italy mein chunao bhi toh hai (Italy is holding elections too)," he mocked at Rahul at the press conference.

As the gathering of reporters burst into laughter, the BJP chief chuckled, "I got a WhatsApp message that there are elections in Italy. I don't know..."

Rahul Gandhi, who took the baton of Congress party from his mother Sonia in December 2017, declared on Twitter on Thursday that he was off to Italy to visit his 93-year-old grandmother. The announcement meant that the party chief would not be in the country for the results of the elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland - the second big day of counting since his elevation.

Rahul became the Congress president just two days ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections in December last year.

"My Nani is 93. She's the kindest soul ever. This Holi weekend I'm going to surprise her! I can't wait to give her a hug....," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet before setting off for Italy.

BJP chief Amit Shah said that the Congress has been rejected in all the three Northeastern states - Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland. He said it is the BJP that is doing the celebrating today, after demolishing the Manik Sarkar-led CPM government in Tripura and pulling ahead in Nagaland with its new ally. It is also in with a chance in Meghalaya.

Amit Shah further said BJP’s victories in the Left's citadel Tripura and Nagaland were an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership by the people of the Northeast.

A jubilant Shah said the BJP's golden era would be when its wrests West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka from rival parties.

"It is a day of joy for me and crores of BJP workers. The victory of the BJP is important in many ways....It is an endorsement of the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the people of the Northeast," he told a press conference.

Amit Shah ruled out the possibility of the BJP, whose NDA partner National People's Party has won 19 seats, engaging in horse-trading in Meghalaya. The two NDA allies had, however, contested the elections separately. BJP has won two seats in the state where the Congress has won 19 seats so far and was ahead in two.

"Where is the question of 'tod-phod' (horse-trading). The Congress does not have a majority there," he said.