Air pollution | Sonia Gandhi shifts to Goa on medical advice

The Congress president was asked to avoid smog and avoid air pollution in Delhi.

Sonia Gandhi. File Photo.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday afternoon moved to Goa following a medical advice to avoid smog and avoid air pollution in Delhi .

Accompanied by her son and former Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi, Ms. Gandhi, 73, is likely to be in Goa till the air quality in Delhi improved, a Congress functionary said.

“The Congress president has been advised by doctors to shift out of Delhi to a place with cleaner air. The polluted air in Delhi has taken a toll on her health and has aggravated her asthma and chest condition, which has not shown much improvement despite medication”, said the functionary.

Ms. Gandhi was

hospitalised in July for a chest infection and has been on medication since then.

On September 12, she went abroad for a routine medical check-up with Mr. Gandhi and skipped the monsoon session of Parliament , held between September 14 and 23 under special conditions because of COVID-19.

Rumblings in party

Ms. Gandhi’s decision to move out of Delhi comes amid internal rumblings over the party’s performance in Bihar as well as crucial bypolls across several States.

Senior leader Kapil Sibal, who was a part of the Group of 23 leaders that questioned the leadership in a letter in August, had launched a fresh attack on the leadership. He said the recent poll results proved that “the Congress was not considered as a viable alternative by voters but for the leadership it could be business as usual”.

Since then, several senior leaders have joined the debate. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, however, urged colleagues to discuss organisational issues on party forums instead of going to media.