NEW DELHI, Jul 20 (TNN) : The Congress has taken the battle to the BJP over the thrashing of four Dalit youth in Gujarat's Una. Party vice president Rahul Gandhi is set to visit the town on Thursday. But in an embarrassment to the Congress, its scion seemed to be dozing through Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's speech on the issue in the Lok Sabha.

As the Congress benches erupted in protest over Rajnath's remarks , television footage inescapably showed Rahul Gandhi sleeping with his forehead resting in his palm. Even as his party's Lok Sabha chief Mallikarjun Kharge and his fellow MPs were on their feet shouting their objections, Rahul seemed to sleep on.

This, when his party has been raising the loudest voice yet on the issue. Earlier in the day, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had lashed out at the Centre over the issue at a Parliamentary party meeting. This however is not the first time that cameras have caught Rahul sleeping in Parliament .

The Gujarat unit of the Congress also met Gujarat Governor OP Kohli on Tuesday, and sought a judicial probe into the incident.

However, Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury gave a clarification on party vice-president's nap, saying that he was just "resting his eyes".